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MEEIKEOZ&S 

OF 

EMINENT 
OF ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES, 



BY ANNA MARIA LEE, 



PHIL^DELPHM: 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN GRIGG^ 

2fO. 9, KOHTH FOURTH STREET. 
J* Harding, Printer^ 




EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSTLVANIA, to rvtt: 
BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the 14th day of March, in the 
Fifty first year of the Independence of the United States of America, 
A. D. 1827, B. T. FRENCH, of the said district, hath deposited in 
this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, 
in the words following, to wit: 

•'Memoirs of Eminent Female Writers, of all Ages and Countries. 
By Anna Maria Lee." 

In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States enti- 
tled, *' An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the 
copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of 
such copies during the times therein mentioned." And also to the 
act, entitled, " An act supplementary to an act entitled, " An act for 
the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, 
and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the 
times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts 
©f designieg,gegigraying, and etching historical and other prints. 

- ^'^^ - ^ e et^;^ (^i^e Extern m^iidtyf l^nnsylvam?- 



XBTTRODUCTIOMr. 



Exemplo plusquam ratione vivimus. 



The following pages were chiefly written in 
the summer of 1 825, with the intention to pub- 
lish, at that time, a succinct account of eminently 
pious and learned women of Great Britain and 
this country. Owing, however, to various cir- 
cumstances, ■ it was not completed; but, in the 
course of last month it was thought adviseable to 
revise what had been written, and alter the plan 
somewhat, by omitting the lives of females emi- 
nent only for their piety, and adding in their 
stead those who have been distinguished for their 
learning and talents as writers. This altera- 
tion will, it is hoped, be approved of, since it 
now presents a series of the most eminent fe- 
male writers, from the earliest period down to 
the present time, together with a detailed ac^ 
count of their literary labours, which all classes 
of readers may consult, without interfering in 
the least with the belief or opinions of any, in 



iv 



INTRODUCTION. 



matters of religion. At no period, since the re- 
vival of learning in Europe, has the female sex 
written so much and so well as in the last half 
century. It is, indeed, a glorious epoch of the 
triumph of female genius — an epoch, that will be 
contemplated with admiration by succeeding ge- 
nerations. Among the illustrious females who 
have done honour to the intellectual character of 
their country, the names of a Radcliffe, a More, 
a Barbauld, a Morgan, a De Stael, a Porter, a 
West, a Genlis, a Hamilton, a Seward, an Opie, 
a Macauley, a licnnox, a Dacier, a Carter, an 
Edgeworth, stand conspicuous; and while such 
examples are held up for contemplation to the 
youthful part of the community, we may safely 
predict that the most happy results will grow oul 
of it. In the work which is now presented to the 
public, considerable pains have been taken in 
consulting original materials, as well as diversi- 
fying the narrative of each individual with a va- 
riety of remarks suitable^ to the occasion; and 
should it prove, in any degree, useful as a ma- 
nual of biography, the object of the writer will 
be gained, as well as compensated for the manj 
pleasant hours bestowed in the execution of it. 

March 1,1S2T^ 



INDEX. 



Agnesi Maria Gateana o 1 

Aikin, Lucy = . . . 2 

Aunoy, Maria Catherine ib. 

Baillie, Joanna 3 

Barbauld, Anna Lsetitia ib. 

Bassi, Laura Maria Catherina 8 

Baynard, Ann 9 

/ Beaufort, Countess D'Haupoult 13 

Berners, Juliana , . . ^ ib. 

Boccage, Mary Ann Le Page. . . 14 

Brooke, Frances , 15 

Bury, Elizabeth 16 

Campan, Jane Louisa Henrietta 24 

Carter, Elizabeth 26 

Centlivre, Susannah 30 

Chastelet, Emilia de Breteuil 31 

Chapone, Hester , . 32 

Corinna, 36 

Cowley, Hannah ib, 

Cruz, Juana Inez ST 

D'Arblay, Madame 39 

Dacier, Ann Le Fevre ib, 

DefFand, Maria du 41 

Descartes, Catharine. . . 42 



vi INDEX . 

Edge worth, Maria 42 

Fayette, Madeleine Pioche de la Verge 43 

Fidelis, Cassandra 44 

Fielding, Sarah 45 

Genlis, Madame de 46 

Glenorchy, Wilhelmina Maxwell 48 

Godwin, Mary 53 

Gomez, Magdalen Angelica Poisson 55 

Graham, Isabella 56 

Grant, Mrs 62 

Grey, Jane ib. 

Griffith, Elizabeth 72 

Grouchy, Sophia 73 

Guy on, Jean Marie Bouviere de la Mo the. . . ...... 74 

Hamilton, Elizabeth 76 

Hypatia... 78 

Keralio, Madame de 85 

Lafite, Mary Elizabeth de 86 

Lambert, Ann Therese ib» 

Lennox, Charlotte 87 

Macauley, Catharine 88 

Montagu, Mary Wortley 95 

Elizabeth 99 

More, Hannah 101 

Morgan, Lady 104 

Newell, Harriet. '^l . . ib. 

Opie, Mrs... 108 



INDEX. vii 

i^aking'ton, Dorothy 109 

PaiT, Catharine 110 

Piozzi, Hester Lynch 113 

Flumptre, Annabella 115 

rhmkett, Mrs ib. 

Porter, Jane 116 

Porter, Anna Maria ib. 

Kadcliffe, Ann 117 

Pamsay, Martha Laurens 122 

Kobinson, Mary 13f 

Roland, Madame 129 

Roper, Margaret 136 

Rowe, Elizabeth 143 

Russel, Rachel 151 

Sappho 154 

Schurman, Anna Maria. 155 

Scudery, Madeline de 15T 

Sevig-ne, Mary de Rabutin 159 

Seward, Anna 161 

Sheridan, Frances. 163 

Snaith, Charlotte 164 

Smith, Elizabeth 16S 

Stael, Anne Louise Germain de — 172 

Talbot, Catherine 176 

Tighe, Mary 177 

Trimmer, Sarah. . . , , 178 

Wakefield, Priscilla. 181 

West, Jane ib, 

Williams, Helen Maria ... 182 



MEMOIRS 

OP 

^iwfntnt jFmale iMvlUvn. 



Maria Gateana Agnesi, an Italian lady, celebrated foi' 
lier learning", was born at Milan, on the 8th of June, 171S. 
So profound were her mathematical attainments, that 
when, in 1750, her father, a learned professor in the 
university of Bojlpgna, was unable to continue his lec- 
tures, owing" to the infirmity of his health, she obtained 
permission from the Pope to fill his chair. At the early 
ag-e of nineteen, she supported one hundred and ninety- 
one theses, which were published in 1738, under the title 
of Propositiones Philosophical;" and she was also mis- 
tress of the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, 
md Spanish languages. Her principal work, entitled 
* Instituzioni Analatiche," 1748, 2 vols. 4to, was translat- 
ed in part, by Antelmy, into French, under the title of 
" Traites Elementaires du Calcul difterentiel, et du GalcUl 
integ-ral,'' 1775, 8vo., and into English by the Rev. John 
f olson, TAicasian professor of mathematics in the univer- 



2 



AIKiN AUNOY. 



sity of Cambridge. This able mathematician deemed 
the analytical institutions of Agnesi so excellent, that he 
learnt Italian, in order to translate that work into English, 
and at his death, left the manuscript ready for the press. 
It was afterwards published in two volumes, quarto. 
Agnesi retired to the monastery of Blue Nuns, where 
she died at a very advanced age, in 1799. 



Lucy Aikin, a distinguished writer, is the only daugh- 
ter of Dr. Aikin, and, like her father and her aunt, Mrs. 
Barbauld, is a votary to literature. Her first work was 
a translation of the "Travels of Orlando round the 
World," from the French of Jauffret, 18mo. Since that 
period, she has published ** Epistles on the Character of 
Women;" "Juvenile Correspondence ^" « The Life of Zu- 
inglius, the Reformer;" and lately, a History of the Court 
of Queen Elizabeth," in which she has exhibited much 
reading much judgment, and a very pleasing style. 



Maria Catharine Aunoy, a French lady, wife to the 
Count d'Aunoy, and celebrated as the author of " Fairy 
Tales," " Hippolito," Earl of Douglas," " Prince 
of Caernay," and other romances of gallantry and fiction. 
Her works are written with the negligent ease of a wo- 
man of quality, but not without spirit and vivacity. Her 
memoirs of what passed in Europe, between 1679 and 
1692, and of the court of Spain, where she for some tune 



BAILLIE BARBAULD. 3 

resided, with her mother, contain many curioas particu- 
lars, which are, however, deteriorated by an ill judged 
mixture of doubtful amorous adventure and romance. 
Her Spanish portraiture is very unfavourable, but singu- 
larly arch and lively. She died in 1705. 



BAIZaXiIi:. 

Joanna Baillie, a lady who holds a distinguished 
place among the writers of the nineteenth century, is 
the daughter of a learned divine, and late professor of 
divinity in the university at Glasgow, and chiefly resides 
in her native country, Scotland. She has published a 
series of plays, in which she has attempted to delineate 
the strong passions of the mind. The first volume was 
published in 1798; the second in 1802; the third in 1802; 
since which she has published a volume of miscellaneous 
plays, and a tragedy, entitled the " Family Legend." 
She has, also, just given to the public, a collection of 
Metrical Legends of eminent characters. 



BABBAUZiD. 

Anna L^etitta Barbaulb, a name endeared to the 
admirers of genius and the lovers of virtue, was born at 
Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, June 20th, 1743, and 
was the only daughter of John Aikin, D. D. She was 
remarkable for a quickness of apprehension in child- 
hood, and by the assistance of her father, she early ac- 



4 BAUBALLD. 

4 

quired a knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages. 
The obscure village of Kibworth was unable, however, 
to afford her a single suitable companion of her own sex. 
Jiist at the period when longer seclusion might have 
proved an injury to her, an invitation was given to her 
learned and exemplary father, to take charge of the 
office of classical tutor in the dissenting Academ}^ at 
Warrington, which was the fortunate means, under Pro- 
vidence, of transplanting her to a more varied and ani- 
imating scene. This removal took place in 1758, when 
Miss Aikin had just attained the age of fifteen. At this 
time, she was possessed of great beauty, distinct traces 
of which she retained to the latest period of life. Her 
person was slender, her complexion exquisitely fair, 
with the bloom of perfect health; her features were 
regular and elegant, and with dark blue eyes, which 
beamed with the light of wit and fancy. 
^ ' Wamngton Academy included among its tutors, at 
this period, names eminent both in science and in iitera- 
tui*e; with several of these, and especially with Dr. 
Priestley and Dr. Enfield, and their families, she formed 
sincere and lasting friendships. About the close of the 
year 1771, her brother, after several years of absence, 
returned to establish himself in his profession at War- 
rington; an event equally welcome to her feelings and. 
propitious to her literary progress. In him she possess- 
ed a friend with discernment to recognize the stamp of 
genius in her productions, and anticipate their fame. 
By liis persuasion, slie revised and arranged her poems 
for publication. The result more than justified his con- 
fidence of her success: four editions of the work were 
called for within the year of pubhcation, 1773; compli- 



BARBAULD 



5 



ments and congratulations poured in from all quarters; 
and even the periodical critics greeted her muse with 
nearly unmixed applause. Slie was not permitted, how- 
ever, to repose upon her laurels, but soon after joined 
with her brother in forming a small volume, which ap- 
peared, also, in the year 1773, under the title of ** Mis- 
cellaneous Pieces, in Prose." These likewise met with 
much notice and admiration, and have been several times 
reprinted. 

Having thus laid the foundation of a lasting reputa- 
tion in literature. Miss Aikin might have been expected 
to proceed with vigour in rearing the superstructure; 
and the world awaited with impatience the result of her 
further efforts. But an event soon afterwards occurred, 
which, for a period, interrupted her literary efforts. 
This event was her marriage, which took place in 1774. 
In 1775, she put to press, a small vol«me, entitled " De- 
votional Pieces, compiled from the Psalms of David, with 
thoughts on the Devotional Taste, and on Sects and 
Establishments." This was followed by Early Les- 
sons," and Hymns in Prose," for children. None of 
her works is a fairer monument than this, of the eleva- 
tion of her soul, and the brightness of her genius. While 
discarding the aid of verse, she every where burst forth 
into poetry; — while stooping to the comprehension of 
infancy, she has produced a precious manual of devo- 
tion, founded on the contemplation of nature; fitted to 
delight the taste, and warm the piety of the most accom- 
plished minds and fairest spirits. In the autumn of 
1785, she, in company with her husband, made an ex- 
cursion as far as Geneva, and wintered in the south of 
France. In the spring, they bent their course north- 
a2 



(3 



BARBAULU. 



wards, and afier a leisurely survey of Paris, returned to 
England in the month of June, 1786. The remainder 
of that year they passed chiefly in London, and early in 
the following- one, Mr. Barbauld having been elected 
pastor of a dissenting congregation at Hamp stead, they 
fixed themselves in that place, where they also took pu» 
pils. Mi's. Barbauld again resumed her pen, and con- 
tributed pieces, occasionally, to the periodical publica- ■* 
tions of the day. In 1792, she published a work enti- 
tled Remarks on Gilbert Wakefield's Inquiry into the 
Expediency and Propriety of Public and Social Wor- 
ship." She also supplied some valuable contributions 
to Dr. Aikin's popular book for children. Evenings at 
Home, amounting in all to fourteen pieces. IVIi's. Bar- 
bauld, v/ho could seldom excite herself to the labour of 
composition, gave notliffig more to Xhe public for a con- 
siderable number of years, with the exception of two 
critical essays; one prefixed to an ornamented edition 
of Akenside'^s Pleasures of Imagination, and tlie other to 
the Odes of Collins. Both of which are written with 
elegance, taste, and acuteness. In 1804, she published 
a selection from the Spectator, Tatler, Guardian, and 
Preeholder, to wliigh she prefixed a preliminary essay, 
Vv hich may be regarded as the most successful of her ef- 
forts in literary criticism. During the same year, she 
undertook tlie task of examining and arranging for pub- 
lication, a selection from the unpublished letters of 
Kichardson, the novelist, and his correspondents, to 
w^hlch she added an interesting account of that cele- 
brated writer. It is supposed, by her biographer, thui 
%:rs. Barbauld consented to employ herself in these 
liumblc oiiices of literature, chiefly as a solace under the 



EARBAULD. 



pressure of anxieties and apprehensions of a peculiar 
and most distressing* nature, which had been increasing 
in urgency during a long course of time, and which found 
their final completion on the llth November, 1808, in 
the event by which she became a widow. An affecting 
dirge wais written by her on this occasion, which has 
since been published in her works. She also communi- 
cated to a periodical paper of the day, a memoir of her 
husband. As it will appear, she had the fortitude to 
seek relief from dejection in literary occupation. In 
1810, she edited a collection of the British novelists. The 
introductory essay to these volumes, shows great read- 
ing, and unusual powers of style; and the biographical 
and critical notices, prefixed to the w^orks of each au- 
thor, are judiciously and gracefully executed. In the 
following year, she compiled for the use of young ladies, 
agreeable collection of verse and prose, in one vo- 
lume, entitled " The Female Speaker.'^ Having thus 
uraced- her mind, as it were, to the tone of original com- 
position, she produced that beautiful offspring of her ge- 
nius, Eighteen Hundred and Eleven — the longest, and, 
perhaps, the most highly finished, of all her poems. This 
was the last of her separate publications. No incident, 
worthy of mention, henceforth occurred, to break the 
uniformity of her existence. A gentle, and scarcely 
perceptible decline, was nov^ sloping for herself, the pass- 
age to the tomb:— she felt, "and liailed its progress, as & 
release from languor and infirmity— a passport to another 
and a higher state of being. Her bodily powers gave 
Vvay almost suddenly; and, after lingering a few days, oii 
the morning of March the 9th, 1825, she expired v/ith- 
out a struggle, in the eig'hty-second year of her age. 
Her works are comprised in tvv'o volumes, octavo. 



8 



BAS5I. 

Laura Maria Catherina Bassi, a celebrated Italian 
lady, whose various litei^ry acquirements were embel- 
lished with the greatest purity of life, was bom at Bo- 
logna about the year 1712. She was early instructed in 
those accomplishments which the well educated of her 
sex require; and also obtained so complete a knowledge 
of the languages and the sciences, that the honourable 
title of doctor in philosophy was conferred upon her, 
in the presence of the cardinal Lambeitina, and Po- 
Hgnac. In 1745, she began to read lectures upon natu- 
ral philosophy, and continued the practice until her 
deatli, which happened in the year 1778. 

She was united to Doctor Joseph Veverti; but in what 
year, her biographer does not mention. Her fondness 
however, for the sciences, did not render her inatten- 
tive to domestic duties: and though admired as a scholar, 
she was esteemed as a wife. The prejudice which is 
entertained against learned females, would soon vanish 
if they adopted this lady's plan; but when the love of 
science supersedes all feminine occupations, and the 
concerns of a family are thought beneath the attention 
of an exalted mind, we cannot be astonished that man- 
kind, in general, should object to what is termed a /eamec? 
lady for a wife. 

We do not find that she published any thing, but 
was the theme of much poetical praise. A collection of 
these tributes of applause appeared in 1732, with her 
portrait, and an inscription, **L. M. C. Cassi, Phil. Doct. 
Coll. Academ. Institut Scientiar. Scciet, iEtat. Ann. 



BAYNARD. 9 

XX. and with the following allusion to Petrarch's 
Laiira: — 

**Laui*a, vale, ingenio quae et carmine nota Petrarch 3e. 
Laura hxc eloquio, et mente Petrarcha sibi," 



AnnBayxard. This sensible, learned and pious young- 
lady was born at Preston, England, in 1672, and 
was the only daughter of Dr. Edward Baynard, Fellow 
of the College of Physicians in London. He, at an early 
age, discovered in his daughter the promise of very su- 
perior talents, and generously gave her a liberal educa- 
tion. The rapid progress and improvement made by her 
in the different branches of science and learning, did 
credit to his judgment, and justified the promise of her 
early years. She died prematurely, in the twenty fifth 
year of her age, June 12th, 1697. For the following 
particulars of her character and endowments, we are in- 
debted to the reverend and learned John Prude. 

. By this gentleman we are informed, that she was 
well acquainted with philosophy, with astronomy, ma- 
thematics, and physics. That she was "not only con- 
versant with these sciences, but a mistress of them, and 
that to such a degree as few of her sex had ever attained. 
That she wasfamihar with the writings of the ancients in 
their original languages, and had the knowledge of a 
profound philosopher." In metaphysical leai'ning, we 
are also told she was a nervous and subtle disputant. 
She took great pains to perfect herself in the Gre':fk 



10 



BAYNARD. 



language, that she might have the pleasure of reading 
in their native purity the works of St. Chrysostom. 
Her compositions in the Latin, which were various, were 
written in a pure and elegant style. She possessed an 
acute and comprehensive mind, an ardent thirst of know- 
ledge, and a retentive memory. 

But after all these acquisitions and endowments, wiik 
profound humility and prostration of mind, she was ac- 
customed to declare in the language of St. Paul, "I 
count all things but loss for the excellency of the know- 
ledge of Christ Jesus my Lord," in which knewledge 
she was no small proficient. She has been heard to say, 
" That human learning was worth nothing, unless as a 
handmaid it led to the knowledge of Christ, revealed in 
the gospel of our only Lord and Saviour." She would 
discourse finely after this manner, by which she evinced 
the devotion of her spirit, and how well religion was 
understood, and how much it was preferred by her. 
** What avails Solomon's skill in all the works of nature, 
if by them we are not brought to see the God of nature? 
What is it to be so skilful in astronomy, or the knowle dge 
of Ihe heavens, as that we can foretell things to come, 
if we never study by our holy practice to arrive at those 
blessed regions? — What is it to be so skilful in arithme- 
tic, as that we can divide and subdivide to the smallest 
fractions, if, as God hath revealed unto us in his holy 
word, we do not so learn to number our days, that we 
may apply our hearts to wisdom? — What is it for a phy- 
sician to be so skilful in foreseeing and preventing the 
diseases of the body, if, as God hath revealed unto him, 
he knows not where to find that balm of Gilead, the 
wine and oil of that Samaritan, the Lord Jesus Christ, to 



BAYNARD. 



11 



pour into the festered wounds of his own soul and con- 
science?" Such was her frequent discourse. This tlie 
heavenly manna that often dropt from her lips. To piety 
and endowments of the mind she added the virtues of 
the heart: she was modest, humble, chaste, and benevo- 
lent, exemplary in her whole conduct, and in every 
relative duty. It was her custom to lay aside a certain 
portion of her income, which was not large, for chari- 
table uses. As further evidences of her piety, she gave 
her constant attendance on the word and sacrament, and 
the daily prayers of the church, and was never absent 
from them, unless prevented by some bodily infirmity, 
with which in the latter part of her life she was much 
afflicted. 

Nor were her private devotions less than those that 
were public. In her closet, with holy David she com- 
muned with her own heart, and secretly examined the 
state and condition of her soul, that she might stand in 
awe and sin not. She embraced all opportunities of 
retirement, that she might have the better intercourse 
with heaven, as knowing that the surest way of over- 
coming the world, and living above it, was to withdraw 
herself from it, and that the best preparation for death 
was to die daily in holy solitude and privacy. 

About two years previous to her death, her spirits seem 
to have been impressed with an idea of her early disso- 
lution; a sentiment which first suggested itself to her 
mind while walking alone, among the tombs in a church- 
yard; and which she indulged with a kind of supersti- 
tious complacency. On her death-bed, she earnestly 
entreated the minister who attended her, that he would 
exhort all the young people of his congregation to the 



BAYNARD. 



study oP Wisdom and knowledge, as the means c^f moral 
improvement, and real happiness. I could wish," says 
slie, that all young persons might be exhorted to the 
practice of vulue, and to increase their knowledge by 
the study of philosophy, and more especially to read the 
great book of nature ^ wherein they may see the wisdom 
and the power of the Creator, in the order of the uni- 
verse, and in the production and preservation of all 
things. That women are capable of such improve- 
ments, which will better their judgments and under- 
standings, is past all doubt, would they but set about it 
in earnest, and spend but half of that time in study and 
thinking, which they do in visits, vanity and folly. It 
would introduce a composure of mind, and lay a solid 
basis for wisdom and knowledge, by which they would 
be better enabled to serve God, and to help their neigh- 
bours." 

On the monument erected to her memory, is the fol- 
lowing inscription: — 

Ann Baynard 
obiit Jun. 12, Ann. iEtat. suae 25, 
Christi 1697. 
O mortales! quotus quisque vestrum cogitat, 
Ex hoc monumento pendet xternitas. 

In English. — Ann Baynard died on the 12th of June, 
in the twenty-fifth year of her age, and of Christ 1697. 
Mortals, how few among your race 

Have giv'n this thought its weight, 
That on this slender moment hangs 
Yo^or everlasting state ! 



B E A U J ' O RT B K R N E II S . 



13 



BXSAUrORT. 

CocNTESs D'Haupoult Beaufort, a late vmtev, 
whose works are said to be highly interesting" in incident 
and style, has published " Childeric, king of the Franks," 
in two volumes: " Severina," in six volumes : " Clemen- 
tine, or tlie French Evelina," four volumes: '^Arindal, or 
the Young Painter," two volumes: "Alexis and Constan- 
tine," two volumes, &c. Also *^ A course of Ancient 
and Modern literature for the use of young women," 
fourteen volumes. 



Juliana Beiiwers, one of the earliest female writers 
of England, and entitled to some notice in this work, 

" was born about the year 1388. She received every ad- 
vantage of education v/hich the age afforded; and is, by 
various writers, celebrated for her accomplishments, 

- learning, and uncommon endowments. She was nomi- 
nated prioress of Sopewell nunnery, near St. Albans. 
Here she lived in high esteem. She was very beautiful, 

Vof great spirit, and loved masculine exercises, such as 
hawking, hunting, &c. She composed two treatises on 
hawking and heraldry, which were so much esteemed, 

' as to have been published in the infancy of the art of 
printing. It was afterwards republished in 1481 and 
in 1486, in a small folio; and again, at Westminster by 
Wynkyn de Worde in 1496. The last impression of it 
was in 4to., London, 1.595, bearing the following title; 
" The Gentleman's Academie, or the Book of St. Albans: 

B 



14 



BOCCAGE. 



containing three most exact and excellent books, the 
first of Hawking, the second of all the proper terms of 
Hunting, and the last of Armory, all compiled by Juliana 
Berners." That part of her work which relates to 
hunting, is written in rhyme. 

The book on armory begins with the following cu- 
rious piece of sacred heraldry: Of the offspring of the 
gentilman Jafeth, come Habraham, Moyses, Aron, and 
the profettys; and also the kyng of the right lyne of 
Mary, of whom that gentilman Jhesus was borne, very 
God and man; after his manhode kynge of the land of 
Jude and of Jues, gentilman by his modre Mary, prince 
of cote armure, &c." 

At the sale of the library of the Duke of Roxburgh, 
an imperfect copy of Wynkyn de Worde's edition of 
this book sold for 147 pounds sterling. 



BOCCAGE. 

Mary Ann Le Page du Boccage, an eminent literary 
lady of France, and a member of the academies of Rome, 
Bologna, Padua, Lyons, and Rouen, was born at Rouen, 
Oct. 22, 1710. She was educated at Paris in the con- 
vent of the Assumption, where she made a very rapid 
progress in every branch of education. 

At a very early age she acquired a knowledge of the 
English language, and translated Pope's Temple of 
Fame into French. Afterwards she gave ample proof 
of her poetical talents, by gaining the first prize given 
by the academy of Rouen. 

This procured her the homage and the society of the 
most eminent wits and scholars of the day, and from this 



BROOKE. 



15 



time she published nothing without her name. Having* 
acquired an uncommon relish for the " Paradise Lost" of 
Milton, she translated a part of it into French, and was 
highly complimented by Voltaire on her success. 

She imitated also, but with much more success and 
more ease, Gesner's "Death of Abel." But her fame 
rests principally on an epic poem, entitled *'The Cc- 
lumbiad, or Discovery of America," in ten cantos, which 
procured her the highest reputation from the literati of 
her own country. 

In 1750, she set out on her travels through England, 
Holland, and Italy, and published the result of them in 
"Letters" on her return. Her personal appearance 
procured her friends and admirers wherever she went; 
and when she again took up her residence in France, 
her house became the rendeT^vmis of the most distin- 
guished men of genius of the age, all of whom she sur^ 
vived. She indeed outlived two ages of literature, the 
latter of which was shortened by the horrors of revolu- 
tionary cruelty, from which by some means she was en- 
abled to escape. 

She died, August 10, 1802, at the very advanced 
age of ninety-two. Her private life is represented as 
exceedingly amiable, and her accomplishments, taste, and 
manners of the highest order. 

Her works are printed in three volumes, 8vo. 



Frances Brooke, whose maiden name was More, was 
the daughter of a learned divine, and the wife of the 
Rev, John Brooke. This lady was no less admired fof 



16 



EURY- 



the suavity and gentleness of her manners, than for the 
various talents slie possessed. Her first literary per- 
fornnance was a periodical work, entitled " The Old 
Maid," which has since been printed in one volume. 
In 1756 she published "Virginia," a tragedy, and in 
1763 the novel of ** Lady Juliet Mandeville," which ex- 
cited considerable attention. She is also the author of 
"Lady Catesby's letters to her Friends;" "Emily Mon- 
tague;" " Lady Henrietta Compley," translated from the 
French; " Memoirs of the Marquis of St. Forlaix," four 
vols. ; " Excursion," two vols. ; Siege of Sinope," a trage- 
dy; " Elements of the History of England;" Rosina 
and Marian," musical dramas, the former of which claims 
the pre-eminence, and is still popular. The domestic 
happiness which subsisted between Mrs. Brooke and 
her husband was of the most tender and lasting kind; 
and when death put a period to his existence, she sur- 
vived his loss only a few days. He expired the twenty- 
first and she the twenty-sixth of January, 1789. 



Elizabeth Burt. This learned and pious lady was 
born in England about the year 1664, and was the only 
daughter of Lawrence, Esq. 

Her genius led her to the study of almost every thing; 
and, having a fine understanding, accompanied with a 
faithful and retentive memory, she soon became a pro- 
ficient in whatever part of knowledge she was desirous 
to attain. She commonly entertained herself with phi- 
lology, philosophy, and ancient and modern history; 
sT>metimes with music, vocal and isstrumental; some- 



BURY. 



17 



times with heraldry, the globes and mathematics; but 
she especially employed herself in reading the Hebrew 
language, which she had rendered so familiar and easy 
to herself as frequently to speak it in common conversa- 
tion. Very critical remarks upon the idioms and pecu- 
liarities of that language were found among her papers 
after her decease. Notwithstanding her taste for these 
branches of literature was very great, her constant, fa- 
vourite and darling study was divinity, especially the 
holy scriptures, having from her very childhood taken 
God's testimonies for the men of her counsel. In the 
latter part of her life she devoted most of her secret 
and leisure hours to the reading of Henry's exposition 
of the Bible, and practical divinity. But, notwithstand- 
ing all her knowledge, and unusual improvements in 
jsuch a variety of learning, and her deep acquaintance 
with the spiritual and most interesting truths of religion, 
she would confess and bewail her own ignorance. The 
time of her conversion she could never determine, but 
she always supposed that event to have happened 
about the tenth year of her age. Having set out thus 
early in the way to Zion herself, and allured and persuad- 
ed all she could into the same path, she lield on her 
own heavenly course with great steadiness, resolution, 
and pleasure; proceeding from strength to strength; and 
for the joy that was set before her, went beyond many 
of her fellow-christians. She thought it not enough to 
begin her work in the morning of life, but she diligently 
attended to it all the day. 

She was aware of the vigilance of her spiritual ene- 
mies, and this kept her upon her watch. She would 
always say, she had much to do, and that which must 
B 2 



be done, and that she knew not bow short her day would 
be, and therefore she had no time to lose.'* 

At the age of eighteen she commenced keeping a 
diary, in which she set down, with great liberty and hap- 
py variety of expression, the most remarkable provi- 
dences of God with respect to herself and others, and 
sometimics in the minutest circumstances of them — 
the solemn transactions between God and her own soul 
in her closet, in her family, in the sanctuary, and in her 
daily walk and converse with others — the substance of 
vv^iat she had read or heard, that was most affecting in 
her present case, or mJght direct her futiu-e practice — 
her preparations for holy duties— the influences, impres- 
sions, assistance, withdrawings, and consolations of the 
Spirit of God in them — ^her daily infirmities, afBictions^. 
supports, self-examinations, evidences and foretastes of 
eternal life — her advances in religion, and her suspected 
decays — the matter of her prayers for herself and others, 
and the manner, time, and seasonableness of God's an- 
swers — the temper of her soul, especially on Sabbaths 
and at sacraments, and on days of solemn fasting and 
humiliation, and thanksgiving, public, private, or secretj. 
and on days she set apart for the trial of herself, and 
searches into her ovfn soul — the various scenes of her 
life, and her comforts and exercises in each of them— 
the state of her servants, and of others committed to her 
care — her merciful protections in journles — the direc- 
tions of Providence as to all the places of her abode, 
and the gracious visitations of God to her soul in all such 
places — the uncommon events that either befell herself^ 
or family, or friends, or the church of God — the bur- 
dens that pressed hardest upon her— the joys that most 



19 



relieved her — the iriaimer and form of her covenanting' 
with God, and his faithfidness to his covenant in every 
relation and state of hfe — the kindness of Providence to 
her — the advantage of Christian conversation — her con- 
stant mtercession for ministers and their people— her 
faithfid reproofs — her success with young persons — 
her concern for the health and maintainance of the poor 
— her reflections upon the unwary escapes of her con- 
versation — her esteem of the holy scriptures, learned 
expositors, and practical writers — her annual recapitu- 
lation of mercies, and sins, and afflictions, and resolu- 
tions, and self-dedications — her special remarks upon 
days of mercy either to herself or family — the manner of 
'her entrance upon a new year, &c. 
• In this method she found singular advantage. She 
'would often say, " that was it not for her diary she 
should neither know what she was, or what she did, or 
^vhat she had;'^ and by recourse to it in all her afflictions, 
temptation's, and surprises, she generally found great 
relief Hence also it was that she often recommended 
the keeping a diary to others, that so God might not 
lose the glory, nor they themselves the comfort of 
their lives. Her humility showed itself in her courteous 
carriage towards the poorest persons, and her conve- 'sa- 
tion with them, especially where she thought she could 
tiave any advantage for doing good. 

Whenever slie appeared before God, her diary disco- 
ers how exceeding vile she was in her own eyes, and 
xow much she abhorred herself by reason of the Lerna 
'aalorum, as she often calls it, which she found in her 
sinful nature, and which made her a burden to herself. 



20 



BURY. 



She was also greatly humbled by observing the conde- 
scensions of divine grace under all her infirmities. 

" What grace, and such grace to me, to unworthy me^ 
to vile ungrateful me!" There was nothing that so 
much affected her heart as the grace of God to such a 
sinner. 

Her patience was admirable under all the chastise- 
ments of her heavenly Father. She would often profess 
her unfeigned submission to all his discipline. " This" 
says she, or any other method, Lord, to take away sin. 
This flesh shall bear it, and this spirit shall not repine at 
it. This is a part of thy covenant, and I am thankful 
for it. Thou hast done me good by afflictions, and will 
do me more, and therefore I will glory in them." 

Her love to the truly godly was sincere; she delighted 
greatly in their company, regarding them as the excel- 
lent of the earth, how mean and contemptible soever 
they appeared in the sight of others. She loved them 
as the children of God, and fellow-heirs of the kingdom;, 
would diligently frequent their assemblies for prayer, 
and always promote some spiritual conversation, which, 
if not forwarded by others, was a disappointment and 
grief to her. 

She spared no expenses in her slate of "widowhood, 
for the relief of destitute families, for erecting charity 
schools for the education of the poor, for the maintain- 
ance of ministers, and for a provision of Bibles and 
practical books, as she should see occasion. 

Her faith in Christ, and dependence on the covenant 
of God, was the daily exercise of her soul. Her first 
and principal care was to clear up her interest in Christ, 
and the promises, in doing which she was cautious and 



£1 



exact. She then prepared and methodized a very 
choice collection of promises suited to every state, duty, 
relation, frame, temptation, and difficulty. 

These promises were the food of her faith, always 
ready, and from these she derived constant strength and 
comfort. On these promises she grounded her prayers. 

The reaches of her faith after Christ, her solemn dedi- 
cations of herself to him, and steady recumbency of her 
soul upon him, as her only rock and refuge, were such 
as did not appear in common (3hristians. 

She always began her day with God, by consecrating 
her first and freshest thoughts to him, that she might 
guard aga nst every vanity, temptation, and worldly dis- 
composure, and keep her heart in tune for the follow- 
ing duties of the day. She never, or very rarely, entered 
upon any worldly businsess till she had begun with God, 
aftd given the first fruits of the day to him in her closet, 
by reading, meditation and prayer, before the worship 
of the family; often urging on herself the words of the 
Psalmist, " My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O 
Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer to thee, 
and will look up." Through the rest of the day she 
walked with God, and carefully observed her goings^ 
avoided the occasions of sin, watched over her heart, and 
set a guard upon her hps. 

When at any time she had been surprised by sin, she 
presently reflected, confessed, repented, had fresh re- 
course to the blood of ist, and solemnly engaged 
herself to God for greater circumspection in time to 
come. 

In the evening, she called herself to an account for 



22 



BURY. 



all that had passed in the day, and again inserted the 
records of herself in her diary. 

She often visited the sick, and relieved the poor, and 
blessed God that she was in circumstances to give rather 
than to receive. Of all company there was none more 
oifensive or painful to her than tatlers and tale-bearerse 
She could not forbear reproving them, and often frown- 
ed them out of her house. " She had business enough," 
she would say, " of her own, and therefore did not de- 
sire to intermeddle with her neighbours'." Both her 
own good sense and the power of religion, carried her 
soul above such trifles and impertinencies, and they 
rather gave her disgust than any degree of pleasure. 

At the age of twenty-three, she married her first hus- 
band. After living fifteen years happily with him, he 
died, and she was left a widow, in which state she con- 
tinued till 1697, when shie espoused Mr. Samuel Bury, 
a dissenting minister. 

As to her relative duties she made great conscience of 
them, and was very exemplary in their observance. Be- 
sides her common concern for the good of all persons, 
and her special regard to her family and relations, she 
would show upon all occasions, when her own health 
would allow it, a very compassionate concern for the sick 
and afflicted. In her visits to them she would take an op- 
portunity of inquiring into the state of their souls, and 
impressing upon their minds the concerns of religion, 
and improving the alarais of (jod upon their consciences 
for future watchftdness and reformation. 

For the sacraments, she always showed a most veil-. 
gious regard. She never approached the Lord's sup- 
per without a serious and solemn preparation for it. She 



BURY. 23 

carefully examined and proved her graces, her faith, 
love, repentance, and the hke, and could not be satisfied 
only with former trials. She made diligent search into 
her heart and life, to make a discovery of her sins, in 
order to confess and bewail them before God in secret. 
She then attended the ordinance in a humble sense of 
her own vileness, with an awful regard to the majesty of 
God, and with great fear and caution, lest any worldly 
trifle should carry off her heart from its proper work. 
Her faith fixed upon Christ to receive, and apply, and 
appropriate him, and to live upon his fulness. 

After the blessed sacrament was over, she would re- 
tire to her .closet, to bless God for what she had done, 
,and for what she had received, and to entreat forgiveness 
for her failings, the continuance of present pious impres- 
sions, and grace to be faithful for the time to come. 

She has been often heard to say, " she would not 
be hired out of her closet for a thousand worlds." She 
never enjoyed such hours of pleasure, and such free and 
intimate communion with God, as she experienced 
there. She wondered how any person could live with- 
out prayer, and deprive themselves of one of the great- 
est privileges that was ever vouchsafed to the children 
of men. The motto in her closet for many years, in He- 
brew characters, was, " Thou, Lord, seest me 5" hereby 
plainly intimating her awful adoration of the omniscience 
of God, that her eye of faith should be always upon him, 
and that she would ever act under the influence of tliat 
persuasion, that God was present, whether in reading, 
prayer, meditation, self-inquiry, or in recording the so- 
lemn transactions that passed between him and her soul 
in her closet. This motto, also, she often found, had 



24 BURY. 

greatly restrained her from sin, had excited her to duty, 
had disposed her for comfortable communion with God, 
and kept her from trifling* in the place of her sacred re- 
tirement. 

The great work of this pious lady's life, was a pre- 
paration for death. For fifty -six years she lived in com- 
fortable communion with God, and the joyful expecta- 
tion of the promised inheritance. In her last illness, 
although the nature of her sickness prevented her from 
speaking much, yet what she did speak, was always 
rational and spiritual. Her mind was not only calm and 
sedate, but very placid and cheerful; as oft as she 
awoke " O my God," said she, "I wait for t1)y salva- 
tion — This day I hope to be with Christ in paradise. — 
The promises of God are all yea and atnen, in Christ Je- 
sus; and here my faith lays hold, and here it keeps its 
hold." On the 11th May, she prayed her friends with 
much entreaty, to detain her no longer by their prayers, 
but to resign h.er soul up to God. About ten o'clock that 
night, the prisoner was released from all her bonds, and 
obtained a glorious freedom. Her heaven-born soul 
took wing for the realms of light, and was bid welcome 
unto the joy of her Lord. 

An elegy upon her death was written by Dr. Watts, in 
which her various and admirable qualities, are poeti= 
cally enumerated. 



Jane Louisa Henrietta Campan, a literary lady of 
some eminence, was born at Paris, October 6th, 1^52^ 



CAMPAX. 



25 



Her father, M. Genet, was devoted to literature, and 
communicated a taste for it to his daughter, who, at an 
early age, acquired a complete knowledge of several fo- 
reign languages, and was distinguished for her skill in 
reading and recitation. These acquirements procured 
for her the place of reader to the French princesses. On 
the marriage of the unfortunate Marie Antoinette with 
the dauphin, afterwards Louis XVI., Mademoiselle Genet 
was attached to her suite, and continued during twenty 
years, to occupy a situation about her person. Her ge- 
neral intelligence, and turn for observation, enabled her, 
in the course of her service, to collect the materials for 
her Memoirs of the Private Life of the Queen of 
France,'^ first published at Paris, and translated and 
printed at London, 1823, two volumes, octavo, which is 
not only interesting for the information it affords, but is 
also creditable to her talents as a writer. This lady, soon 
after her appointment at court, was married to M. Cam- 
pan. On the revolution breaking out, she was deprived 
of her place, and narrowly escaped the guillotine. On 
the fall of Robespierre, she opened a private seminary 
for the education of young ladies, which she conducted 
with great success. Bonaparte afterwards placed her 
over his establishment at Ecouen, for orphan daughters 
of members of the legion of honour. She presided there 
till the restoration of the Bourbons, when the institution 
was abolished. The rest of her life was passed in retire- 
ment at Nantes, and w^as partly employed in the compo= 
sition of her memoirs. She died March 6th, 1822. 



e 



26 



Elizabeth Caeteb, a lady of profound learning and 
piety, was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Nicholas Carter, 
and was born in Kent, England, December 16, 1717, and 
educated by her father. At first, she discovered such 
a slowness of faculties, as to make him despair of her 
progi'ess in intellectual attainment, even with the aid of 
the greatest industry, and the most ardent desire, which 
characterized her efforts. Mortified and sorrowful at her 
own difficulties, she resolved nevertheless to persevere, 
and her perseverance was finally crowned with success. 
She became mistress of Latin, Greek, French, German, 
and afterwards understood Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, 
and the Hebrew languages. 

Before she was seventeen years of age, many of her 
poetical attempts appeared in the Gentleman's Maga- 
zine for 1734, with the signature of Eliza." This extra- 
ordinary display of genius and acquirements procm^ed'her 
immediate celebrity, and the learned flocked about her 
with admiration. In 1739, she translated " The critique 
of Crousaz on Pope's Essay on Man," and, in the same 
year, gave a translation of " Algarotti's Explanation of 
Newton's Philosophy, for the use of the Ladies." These 
publications extended her acquaintance among the lite- 
rati of her own country, and her fame reached the conti- 
nent, where Baratier bestowed high praises on her ta- 
lents and genius. In 1741, she formed an intimacy 
with Miss Catharine Talbot, a young lady of considerable 
genius, and most amiable disposition. This was an im 
portant event in her life, on many accounts. The inti= 
macy of their friendship, the importance of their corre= 



CARTER. 



27 



spondence, and the exalted piety of both, made it the 
principal ingredient of their mutual happiness. 

In addition to this, it procured the friendship of arch- 
bishop Seeker, with whom Miss Talbot resided. By 
this means, she extended her knowledge of the world, 
cherished her profound learning, and exercised her 
pious thoughts. To this event, is to be traced her un- 
dertaking, and completing the work, by which her fame 
has been most known abroad, her " Translation of Epic- 
tetus/' It was not, however, till the beginning of 1749, 
that this translation was commenced. By the arch- 
bishop's desire, she added notes and an introduction, 
both admirably executed. 

In 1754, Mrs. Carter renewed along existing intimacy 
with Mrs. Montague, and, at her house, frequently met 
with persons of elevated rank, unrivalled talents, and 
genuine piety. In 1756, lord Lyttleton visited her at 
Deal; and, from that time, an acquaintance commenced, 
which only terminated with life. About the same time, 
she became acquainted with the celebrated William 
Pulteney, earl of Bath, who delighted in her society 
and regarded her intellectual powers and acquisition 
with unfeigned admiration. By his persuasion, she pub- 
lished in 1762, a volume of her poems. 

In 1763, she accoriipanied lord Bath, Dr. Qouglas, Mr. 
and Mrs. Montague, in a tour through Germany, France, 
and Holland. Lord Bath's health seemed improved by 
the tour, but appearances were fallacious, for he died in 
the following year. 

In 1768, she had an additional loss in the death of her ^ 
revered friend and patron, archbishop Seeker. Two 
years after, she sustained a more severe deprivation in 



28 



CARTER. 



the loss of her bosom friend, Miss Talbot, of vvhom^ 
among" other praises dictated by sense and feeUng", she 
says, " never surely was there a more perfect pattern of 
evangelical goodness, decorated by all the ornaments of 
a highly improved understanding; and recommended by 
a sweetness of temper, and an elegance and pohteness of 
manners, of a peculiar and more engaging kind, than in 
any other character I ever knew.'* 

About nine years before her death, she experienced 
an alarming illness, of which she never recovered the ef- 
fects in bodily strength, but the faculties of her mind re- 
mained unimpaired. In the summer of 1805, her weak- 
ness evidently increased. From that time until Febru- 
ary 1806, her strength gradually ebbed away; and on 
the morning of the 19th, she expired wi' hout a groan. 

The portrait of Mrs. Carter in her old age, which her 
nephew and biographer, the Rev. Mr. Pennington, has 
taken, is very captivating. The wisdom of age, without 
its coldness; the cool head, with the affectionate heart; 
a sobriety which chastened conversation without de- 
stroying it; a cheerfulness which enlivened piety without 
wounding it; a steady effort to maintain a conscience 
void of offence, and to let religion suffer nothing in her 
exhibition of it to the world. Nor is her religion to be 
searched for only in the humiUty with which she receiv- 
ed, and the thankfulness with which she avowed, the 
doctrines of the Bible, but in the sincerity with which 
she followed out those principles to their practical con- 
sequences, and lived as she believed. Very wide, in- 
deed, from the line which they have taken, will the cold, 
formal, and speculative professors of the present day 
find the conduct of Mrs. Carter. We hear her in one 
place charging upon her friend Mrs. Montague, the ne- 



CAUTEK. 



29 



cessity to enlist her fine talents in the cause of religion, 
instead of wasting* them upon literary vanities. In an- 
other, we hear her exposing the pretensions of that reli- 
gion, which does not follow men into the circle in which 
they live; and loudly questioning, whether piety can at 
once be seated in the heart, and yet seldom force its way 
1^0 the lips. 

We see her scrupulously intent on turning the conver- 
sation of dinner tables into such channels, as might, at 
least, benefit the servants in attendance. This delicacy 
of moral sentiment, which feels a stain in religion 
like a wound, which deems nothing trifling that has 
to do with the soul, which sets God at our right hand, 
not only in the temple but in the drawing-room, is, 
doubtless, an indication of a heart visited of God, and 
consecrated to his service. Among her studies there 
was one which she never neglected; one which was al- 
ways dear to her, from her earliest infancy to the latest 
period of her life, and in which she made a continual 
improvement. This was that of religion, which was her 
constant care and greatest delight. Her acquaintance 
with the Bible, some part of which she never failed to 
read every day, was as complete, as her belief in it 
was sincere. And no person ever endeavoured more, 
and few with greater success, to regulate the whole o^ 
their conduct by that unerring guide. She assisted her 
devotion also, by assiduously reading the best sermons, 
and other works, upon that most interesting subject. 
Her piety was never varying; constant, fervent, but not 
enthusiastic. 

As her piety began early, so it travelled with her 
through life. It was at all times the most distinguished 

V 2 



so 



CENTLIVRE. 



feature of her character. It was indeed tiie veiy piety 
of the gospel, shown not by enthusiasm, or depreciating 
that of others, but by a calm, rational, and constant devo- 
tion, and the most unwearied attention to acquire the 
temper, and practise the duties of a christian life. She 
never thanked God, like the proud pharisee, that she 
was not like others; but, rather like the publican, be- 
sought him to be merciful to her, a sinner. Such were 
the qualities with which she came as a shock of ripe 
corn to the heavenly harvest. 



Susanna Cextlivre, a dramatic writer of great ce 
lebrity, was the only daughter of a dissenting minister of 
the name of Freeman, and was born in England, July 2, 
1667. She began her literary career about the begin- 
ning of the last centuiy. Her first production was a 
tragedy, entitled "The Perjured Husband." This was 
followed by several comedies, translated from the 
lYench, that met with temporary success. Some of her 
comedies still remain as stock pieces, among which are 
"The Busy Body;" "The Wonder-," and ''A Bold 
Stroke for a Wife." They are diverting from the bustle 
of the incident, and the liveliness of the chai'acters; but 
want the accompaniments of adequate language, and 
forcible dehneation; yet her Marplot in the Busy Body, 
is a genuine comic picture. Mrs. Centlivre enjoyed 
the friendship of Steele, Farquhar, Rowe, and other wits 
of the day. Besides her dramatic works, published in 
three volumes, a volume of her poems and letters, were 
collected and published by Bover. She died in 1723 



tjrABUIEL EmILTA DE BuETEUIL ChaSTELET, OllC Of tllC 

most illustrious women of her nation, was born on the 
17th December, 1746. In early youth, she discovered 
uncommon capacity and vigour of mind. Captivated by 
the cliarms of poetry, she studied, in their ownlanguage^ 
the first poets both of ancient and modern times. Ho- 
mer, Virgil, Tasso, and Milton, became familiar to her ; 
lier ear was peculiarly sensible to the power of harmony, 
both in poetical and prose compositions. As she ad- 
vanced towards maturity, she was led by an acute and 
comprehensive mind, to the study of the severer scien- 
ces: her attention was particularly engaged by the ma- 
thematics; to which, for a time, she wholly devoted her- 
self. She may be said to have rivalled Newton and 
Leibnitz. Her work entitled Institiitiones de Phy- 
sique," which she addressed to her son, is a commentaiy 
on the philosophy of Leibnitz, which she cleared from 
its obscurity, and rendered more intelligible. The in= 
troduction to this work was praised by the learned as a 
master piece of eloquence and reasoning. She com- 
posed, also, a treatise on the nature of fire, v/hich was 
published in octavo. She likewise entered into a course 
of study of the works of Newton, which are v,Titten in 
Latin, and on which she published a commentary, enti- 
tled " Priiicipts jyiathematiques de la Philosophie Na- 
iurelle,^^ in two volumes, quaito^ a Wferk which is con- 
sidered as a cAg/ d^oeuvre. Intense application wasted her 
strength, debilitated her frame, and gradually conducte4 
her to a premature grave. She studied, with Voltaire, 
the principles of Newton, at Cirey, in Champagne^ 



CHASTELET, 



where, having retired, to avoid interruption; they re- 
sided for several years. Mr. Koenig, an eminent mathe- 
matician, spent two yoRYs with them in this retreat. Vol- 
taire caused a gallery to be erected at Cirey, where 
their experiments on light and electricity were perform- 
ed. In the midst of these profound occupations, ma- 
dame de Chastelet preservedher predilection for poetry, 
of which she was an excellent judge. 

Voltaire went from Cirey to Brussels, to solicit a suit 
which had been long pending between the family of de 
Chastelet and the liouse of Honsbrouk; and which me- 
naced both with ruin. This affair was happily accom- 
modated by tlie joint exertions of Voltaire, witli M. 
Raesfeld, president of Cleves, on the condition, that a 
hundred and thirty French livres should be paid to the 
marquis de Chastelet. "Rousseau was then at Brussels: 
Madame de Chatelet refused to admit him to her pre- 
sence, on account of his having satirized her father, the 
baron de Breteuil, with whom he had once lived as a 
domestic. Voltaire accompanied Madame de Chatelet 
to the court of Stanislaus at Limeville, in 1748. In this 
palace, in 1749, the illustrious marchioness de Chatelet 
breathed her last. She submitted to her fate with great 
fortitude, and expired in the forty-fourth year of her 
age. Her works afford a proof of the power and force 
of her mind, and of the capacity of her sex for profound 
Investigation and scientific research: she deservedly 
ranks among the fifst philosophical writers. 



CHAro:^ris. 

Hestf.r CnAPo?fE, an ingenious writer, was the daugh- 



CHAPONE. 33 

ter of Thomas Miilso, Esq., and was born in England 
October 27th, 1727. 

At a very early ag-e she exhibited proofs of uncommon 
genius, and facility of apprehension. With an imagina- 
tion peculiarly lively, and a temper equally warm and 
ai'dmt, she read more works of fancy, than perhaps was 
quite coRvSistent with due judgment, or compatible with 
true happiness. Romances appear to have been the fa- 
vourite reading of females at that period; and it is not 
to be wondered at that this young lady, influenced by 
the example of those around her, should have read with 
avic'ity works so alluring in their composition, tboi gh 
so little instructive in their tendency, or ^beneficial in 
their effects. Useless, however, as such a study m^ght 
have been to the generality of youthful reaoers, it was 
not wholly unproductive of advantage to her, for at nine 
years old, she composed a romance, called " The loves 
of Amoret and Melissa," which we are told, exhibit- 
ed Fertility of invention, and extraordinary specimens 
of genius," and laid the foundation of that respect, and 
that admiration of her talents, to which her subsequent 
character and writings so fully entitle her. From pur- 
suits so unprofitable, she at once commenced a coiu'se of 
studies, which were useful, as well as elegant. Though 
chiefly self taught, she acquired a tliorough knowledge 
of the Latin, French, and Italian languages. She read 
the best authors on morals and philosophy; and so acute 
wgs her judgment, that no disguise of flowing diction, or 
ornamented style, could mislead it. At an age when, 
perhaps, few readers are capable of very deep discrimi» 
nation, she would scrutinize, and controvert every point 



34 



CHAPONE. 



on which her own opinions did not acquiesce. That she 
read the Holy Scriptures both with delight and benefit 
to herself, her excellent directions for the study of them 
in her letters is a sufficient testimony. 

Amongst those who composed her literary circle, was 
Mr. Richardson, through whom she afterwards became 
acquainted with Mr. Chapone, a young gentleman then 
practising law in the Temple. There attachment was 
mutual, but not hasty or imprudent. She obtained her 
father's consent, and a social intimacy continued for a 
considerable period, before it ended in marriage. In the 
mean time, she became acquainted with the celebrated 
Mrs. Carter: a correspondence took place between 
them, which increased their mutual esteem, and a friend- 
ship was thus cemented, which lasted during a course 
of more than fifty years. 

Miss Mulso's first production was an ode to Peace, 
which she afterwards addressed to Miss Carter on her 
intended publication of the translation of Epictetus. 
About the same time, she wrote the story of Fidelia, 
which, though composed purposely for the Adventurer, 
yet such was her timidity, that nothing but the earnest 
persuasions of Miss Carter, and her friends, could have 
prevailed upon her to take courage to send it to the 
press. 

In 1760, she was mamed to Mr. Chapone, and remov- 
ed to London. Here she enjoyed every degree of hap- 
piness which mutual attachment could confer, but it 
was of short duration. In less than ten months after 
they were married, Mr. Chapone was seized with a fe- 
ver, which terminated his life, after about a week's ill- 
ness. 



CHAPONE. 



35 



At first she seemed to bear tljis calamity with forti- 
tude, but it preyed on her health, and for some time 
her life was despaired of. She, however, gradually re- 
covered, and resigned herself to a state of life, in which 
she yet found many friends and many consolations. 
Most of her time was passed in London, or in occasional 
visits to her friends, among whom she had the happi- 
ness to number many distinguished characters of both 
sexes: — lord Lyttleton, Mrs. Montague, and the circle 
who usually visited her house. In 1770, she accom- 
panied Mrs. Montague into Scotland. In 1773, she pub- 
lished her Letters on the Improvement of the Mind,'* 
originally intended for the use of her niece, but given 
to the world at the request of Mrs. Montague, and her 
other literary friends. This work was followed by a 
<* volume of Miscellanies," published without her name^ 

The latter years of her life were embittered by the 
loss of the greater part of the friends of her youth; this 
together with other privations, began to affect her mind,, 
and at the persuasions of her sympathising friends, she 
removed to Hadley. 

In October, 1801, she completed her seventy -fourth 
year. On the Christmas day following, without any 
previous illness, having declared herself unusually well 
the day before, she fell into a dose, from which nothing 
could arouse her, and which her physician, who attend, 
ed her, immediately pronounced to be the forerunner 
of death; and, at eight o'clock in tlie evening, without 
one apparent struggle or sigh, she breathed her last in 
the arms of her niece. 

Her works are published in two volumes, 12 ma. 



36 



C O R I X N A (5 O WL E Y . 



CoRiNNAj a Grecian lady, celebrated for her beauty 
and poetic talents, was born at Thessu, a city in 8oetia,l 
and was the disciple of Myrtis, anothev Grecian lady. 
Her verses were so esteemed by the Greeks, that they * 
gave her the name of the lyric muse. She lived in the^ 
time of Pindar, about 495 years before Christ, and is said.^ 
to have gained the prize of Lyric poetry five times from 
that poet. Corinna wrote a great deal of poetry, but nOi 
more have come down to us than some fragments whichi 
may be seen in Fabricius's Bibliotheca Grseca.'' i 



COWIiETT. 

Haxnah Cowley, an ingenious and popular dramatic 
writer, was the daugliter of P. Parkhouse, Esq., of In-j 
verton, England, where she was born in 1743. In her 
twenty -third year she produced her first comedy, which 
met with so much success that she was encouraged to] 
proceed, and soon after wrote The Belle Stratagem" 
which estabhshed her fame as a polished writer. This 
was follow^ed by a "Bold Stroke for a Husband," 

Who's the Dupe," &c. The sprightliness of dialogue, 
and tlie variety of characters and incidents, which she 
introduces in her dramatic works, evince a brilliancy of 
wit, and a versatility of genius, of which very few of 
the ancient or modern authors are possessed. To at- 
tempt pointing out her peculiar excellencies, would lead 
to a prolixity wholly incom.patible with this work^ but 
the character of Miss Handly^ in the Belle Stratagem, 



CRUZ. 



37 



and Olivia, in the Bold Stroke for a Husband, are allow- 
ed to be portrayed with a striking- effect. This amiable 
and modest writer died at Inverton, in 1809, and her 
works were collected and published in 1813 in three 
volumes. 



JuAXA Inez Cruz, was born November 3, 1651, a 
few leagues from Mexico. Her father, a Spanianl had 
soug"ht wealth by an establishment in America, where 
he married a lady of the country, but of Spanish extract 
lion. Juana, the fruit of this union, displayed in earlv 
childliood a passion for letters, and an extraordinary fa- 
cility in the composition of Spanish verses. At eight 
years of age, she was placed by her parents witii an 
uncle, who resided in Mexico, and who caused Iier to 
receive a learned education. Her talents having at- 
tracted notice and distinction, she was patronised by the 
lady of the viceroy, the marquis de Manceria, and at 
the age of seventeen, was received into his family. A 
Spanish encomiast of Juana relates a curious anecdote 
respecting her, communicated to him, as he affirms, by 
the viceroy. Her patrons, filled witli admiration and 
astonishment by the powers and attainments of their 
young protegee, determined to prove the exteiit and 
solidity of her erudition. For this purpose, they invited 
forty of the most literary characters of the country, 
who assembled to examine her in the different branches 
of learning and science. Questions, arguments, and 



'^8 



CRVZ, 



problems, were accordingly proposed to tier by the 
several professors, in philosophy, mathematics, history^ 
theolog-y, poetiy, &c. to all which she answered with 
equal readiness and skill, acquitting herself to the entire 
satisfaction of her judges. To this account it is added, 
that she received the praises extorted on this occasion by 
her acquirements, with the most perfect modesty; neither 
did she, at any period of her life, discover the smallest ten- 
dency to presumption or vanity, though honoured with 
the title of the tenth muse: a pious humility was her 
distinguishing characteristic. She lived forty-four 
years, twenty-seven of which she passed in the convent of 
St. Geiimo, (where she took the veil,) in the exercise of 
the most exemplary virfues. That enthusiasm by which 
g'enius is characterized, necessarily led to devotion in. 
circumstances Uke those in which she was placed. In 
the fervour of her zeal, she wrote in her blood a confes» 
sion of her faith. She is said to have collected a libraiy 
of four thousand volume.% in the study of which she 
placed her delight: nevertheless, towards the close of 
her life, she sacrificed this darling propensity for the 
purpose of applying the money which she acquired by 
the sale of her books, to the relief of the indigent. Ju- 
ana was not less lamented at her death, than celebrated 
and respected during her life. Her writings were col- 
lected in three quarto volumes, to which are prefixed 
numerlius panegyrics upon the author, both in verse 
and prose, by the most illustrious persons of old and 
new Spain. It is observed by the Spanish critic, father 
Feyjoo, that t]\e compositions of Juana excel in ease 
and elegance, rather than in energy and strength. This 
is, perhaps, in some degree, attributable to the age in 



d'aRBLAY DACIER. 



39 



which she lived, and to the subjects of her productions 
which were principally compliments addressed to her 
friends, or sacred dramas, to which an absurd and sense- 
less superstition aiForded the materials. 



Madame D'Arblay, better known by the name of 
Miss Bumey, which sbe bore previous to her marriage 
with Mons. D*Arblay, has written several popular novels, 
which are of the first class. She published "Evelina,'* 
in four volumes; "Ceciha,'^ in three volumes; and 

Camilla," in four volumes. For the latter, she receiv« 
ed three thousand guineas for the copy right. She is 
also the author of** Edwy and Algiva," a tragedy^j*' Since 
the death of her husband, she has published The 
Wanderer, or Female Difficulties," in four volumes. 



Ann Le Fetre Dacier, eminent for her learning and 
piety, was born in the year 1651, at Saumur, Fmnce, in 
the university of which place her father held a profes- 
jiorship. He carefully instructed her in clas5^cal learn- 
ing, in consequence of her having displayed a peculiar 
taste for study when young. As soon as she was capa> 
ble of reading Anacreon, Callimachus, Homer, ^schy- 
lus, and Euripides, he taught her the Italian language, 
and, in a very short time, she could point out the dif- 
ference between Tasso and Virgil, At the age of twen = 



40 



BACIESt. 



ty-two, she published an edition of the poetry of Calli- 
macbus, to which she prefixed a Greek sciioliam, a La« 
tin version, and critical remarks. This extraordinary 
production not only established her merit as a scholar, 
but absolutely called forth the adi^nration and astonish- 
ment of the learned world. Her reputation as a critic 
and a scholar being' now established, she was eng-ag-ed 
to edit the Latin classics, published for the me of the 
dauphin. In 1681, she publis'ied an edition of ** Sextus 
Aurelius Victor," besides a French translation of " Ana- 
creon" and Sappho," both of wh ch were received 
with great applause. In 1683, she p-iblished a French 
translation of Plautus," three volumes. About this 
period she married M. Dacier, a scholar and critic of 
great reputation, whom she afterwards assisted in a 
translation of " Plu^^arch's Lives," from the Greek, and 
the " Moral Reflections of Marcus Antonius," by which 
she immortalized her name. Like her husband, she had 
a pedantic prediiection for the ancients, and would not 
adm t that the classic Greek and Roman writers had any 
fanhs. She defend . d the moral conduct of Sappho; 
ancL vhen Boileau, in conversation, hinted at the scan- 
dalo ,s stones in record relative to the Grecian poetess, 
she coolly observed, that •* Sappho had her enemies.'* 
One of her principal works, is a prose translation of the 
" Ihad and Odyssey" of Homer, in six volumes,^ with 
notes, in which sne displays h^r idolatry of Homer, 
which involved her in a literary controversy with La 
Motte, the author of a rival translation. She also pub- 
lisiied a defence of Homer, against the apology of father 
Hardouin, a learned .Jesuit, in which she attempts to 
show, that father Hardouin, in endeavouring to apolo- 



DEFFAXD. 



4i 



gise for Homer, has done him more injury than ever he 
received from his most declared enemies. Her transla- 
tion of Homer has been repeatedly published, and is 
reckoned both elegant and faithful. It was much used 
by Pope, in the composition of his poetical version of 
the Iliad and Odyssey. Besides the works previously 
mentioned, she published a spirited version of Terence's 
comedies, in eight volumes, with notes. The best and 
most finished edition of this universally admired per- 
formance, is that of 1717. She died after a short illness^ 
August 17, 1720. 

Madame Dacier was a lady of great virtue as well as 
learning, and was remarkable for firmness, generosity, 
good nature, and piety. She was valued as a friend, and 
adored as a wife. In the character of a mother, siie was 
no less estimable. She had two daughters and a son, 
of whose education she took the strictest c^re* 



Marie du Deffand, a French lady, distinguished alike 
for her talents, and her intercourse with the literati of 
the last century, was the daughter of Gaspard de Yichy. 
Comte de Champ-Rond, and was born on the 2d July, 
1696. She received an education suitable to her rank, 
and the situation she v/as destined to fill in the fashions- 
able world. Her acquirements were very considerable? 
but no care seems to have been taken to regulate lier 
temper and disposition, which were marked by a degi-ee 
of egotism destructive of all sensibility, which was con- 
spicuous throughout life. During the latter part of her 
a 2 



42 



DESCARTES— EDGEWORTM. 



long" life, she became the centre of a litel'ary coterk, 
which included some of the greatest geniuses of the age* 
Among the females, remarkable for their wit and talents, 
in the eighteenth century, she claims a distinguished 
p^ace, though she left no monument of her abilities, ex- 
cept her epistolary correspondence, wliicli has been 
highly praised by her friend D'Alembert, as affording a 
m« lei of style in that species of composition. She died 
in 1780, having reached the age of eighty-four, during 
the last thirty years of which she had been afflicted v/ith 
blindness. Her letters to Horace Walpole, marquis 
D*Argens, D'Alembert, Montesquieu, ie president 
Hainault, Mesdames de Choiseuh de Stael, &.C. have 
been published in four volumes, octavo. 



Cathartne Descartrs, the niece of the celebrated 
philosopher, who worthily sustained the glory of her 
uncle, by her taste and learning. A wit said of this 
lady, " Que I'esprit du grand Rene etoit tombe en que- 
nouille.'* She wrote well in prose and verse, and she 
publisiied " L'Ombre de Descartes," and " Relation de 
la mort de Descartes:" the last of which is a melange of 
prose and verse. She died at Rennes, in 1706. 



Mabia Ebgewop.th, daughter of Richard Lovel Edge- 
worth, has for a long tirue been known and respected in 



FAYETTE. 



43 



the literary world. She has devoted a large portion of 
her time to literary pursuits, and contributed, in no small 
degree, to the improvement of the rising age. She 
stands, indeed, without a rival. One of her chief objects 
has been to bring to greater perfection the system of 
female education, and has succeeded in that particular 
to a considerable degi-ee. As a novel v/riter, she ranks 
among the most eminent, and the Irish character has 
never been drawn with equal truth and spirit by, any 
other writer. The following is a list of her numerous, 
interesting, and valuable publications, viz. '* The Pa- 
rent's Assistant;'' Practical Education;" one of the 
best on that subject; *' Belinda;" ** Early Lessons;" 
" Castle of Rackrent;" " Moral Tales;" Essay on Irish 
Bulls;" « Popular Tales;" " The Modern Griselda;" 
«* Leonora;" " Adelaide;" Tales of Fashionable Life;" 

Essays on Professional Education;" The Wife;" 

Patronage;" " Readings on Poetry;" " Harrington 
and Ormond;" " Comic Dramas;" ** Letters for Lite- 
rary Ladies." A uniform edition of her WTitings are 
now pubhshing in Boston, in twelve volumes, octavo. 



FAVETTE. 

Marie Mai)elei:?^e Pioche de la Verge Fayette, one 
of the most illustrious females that ornamented the 
court of Lewis the fourteenth, was intimately acquainted 
with the literati of that age, many of whom experienced 
her benevolence and generosity. When Segrais quit- 
ted his residence with Mademoiselle Montpensier, he 
domesticated at her house, and was the chief director of 



44 



FI DELIS. 



her pursuits. It was in his name that her two celebrat- 
ed romauces of" Zaide" and the " Prmcess of Cleves," 
were published; but he has himself testified that, with 
the exception of a Uttle assistance in the plan or outline, • 
the merits of them were due to her. Voltaire describes 
them as the first romances in which the manners of per- 
sons of condition were truly painted, and natural adven- ^ 
lures described with ease and grace. Superseding as ^ 
they did the tedious and voluminous productions of 
Scudery and others, they stil! retain a spice of the chi- 
valry and ceremonious gallantry of the court of Anne of 
Austria, wiiich, being united to much delicacy of senti- 
ment, and lively and graceful description, is not without 
its attraction. It was on the appearance of *' Zaide,^' 
that Huet wrote his Origin of Romances," and expos- 
ed himself to some censure, by the importance which he , 
attached to them. Madame de la Fayette, who was es- 
teemed as much for the solidity as the brilliancy of her 
parts, died in 1693. Besides the works already men- 
tioned, she wrote the ** Princess of Montpensier;" *^ Me- 
moirs of the Court of France, in the years 1688, and \ 
1689;" "The History of Henriette of England," and ' 
Divers Portraits of Persons about the Court." 



CASSATfDTiA FiDELTS, a vcry learned lady, of a family 
originally of Milan, is supposed to have been born about 
1465. She was early instructed in the Greek and Latin 
languages, elocution, and the Aristotelian philosophy, 
to which she was partial, and maintained a correspond 



IIF.LDING. 



45 



dence with many of the literati of her age. She is said 
to have been of unblemished morals, great frankness of 
disposition, and occasional g-aiety. Politian considered 
he^^as no less a prodig-y among her sex, than Picus was 
amoi»g'his, and was so struck with her character, that he 
visited Venice almost solely with a view to converse with 
her, while crowned heads invited her by large offers to 
visit and settle in their courts. 

In 1487, she delivered a public oration before the uni- 
versity of Padua, " pro Alberto Lamberto Canonico 
Concordiensi," a philosophical relation of hers, which 
is still extant. She had once the honour of addressing* 
a complimentary oration to Bona Fortia, queen of Sar- 
matia, when visiting Venice, which was delivered in 
the Bucentauro, sent out with a suitable train to meet 
and escort her into the Venetian port; on which occa- 
sion the queen presented her with a magnificent gold 
chain; but Cassandra, with that philosophical indiffer- 
ence which she had always evinced for this precious 
metal, gave it next day into the hands of the doge. In 
her nineteenth year she was appointed to preside over 
a religious society of her own sex at Venice, and died 
in 1558. She composed a work " De Scientiarura Or^ 
dine,'' but it was never published. Thomasinus wrote 
her life, prefixed to her "Epistolse et Orationes Post= 
humae, Padua", 1636. 



Sabah Fielding, the sister of the celebrated Henry 
Fielding whose writings have afforded so much pleasure 



46 



GENLIS. 



and delight, was born in the year 1714. This lady seems 
to have partaken of the brilhancy of her brother's ge- 
nius, without participating in any of his faults; for she 
was no less admired for her literary talents, than for the 
genuine purity of her life. She was the author of ^< Da- 
vid Simple;'* "The Cry, a Dramatic Fable;" "The 
Countess of Delwyn;" " The History of Ophelia;'' " The 
Lives of Cleopatra and Octavia." Also an elegant trans- 
lation from the Greek of " Xenophon's Memoirs of So- 
crates.'^ 



Madame be Genlts, a French lady of great literary 
attainments, was born near Autun, Burgundy, on the 
25th of January, 1746. She inherited no fortune, but 
as she grew up she distinguished herself for her taste 
and talents for music. With these qualifications and a 
handsome figure, she married Count de Genlis, a young 
nobleman of considerable fortune. By this means she 
had access to the family of the duke of Orleans, whose 
son, then Due de Chartres, had a rising family which he 
placed under the care of Madame de Genlis, for their 
instruction. About this period she commenced her ca* 
reer as an author, by works on education. " The Theatre 
of Education;" "Adela and Theodore;" "The Even« 
ings of the Castle," ** Cempte Renda," and the " An«* 
nals of Virtue," were the most popular, as they ai*e now 
esteemed among the best of her productions. She also 
published about this time a book to prove that religion 
is the basis of happiness es well a» of pbilotsophy. In 



GENLIS. 



47 



ir91 she resigned the situation of governess, and yisited 
England. She resided some time in that country, and 
made a tour through vaiious parts of the kingdom. She 
returned to Paris in September, 1792, but was ordered 
to quit France in forty-eight hours after. She now de- 
termined to take up her residence in England, but was 
entreated by the Duke of Orleans to accompany his 
daughter to Tournay, and stay with her, till he could 
engage a proper person to take the place of governess. 
To this she consented. Circumstances having prevent- 
ed the Duke from procuring another governess for his 
daughter, she remained under her care. When the 
Austrians reconquered Flanders, she withdrew with 
her pupil to Switzerland, and afterwards to the convent 
of St. Clair. The Princess of Orleans quitted her there, 
and went to remain under the care of her aunt, the 
Princess of Conti, who at that time resided at Friburgh. 
Madame de Genlis quitted the convent in 1794, and 
went to Altona, whence she removed to Hamburg. She 
afterwards retired to Sielk in Holstein, where she wrote 
her works entitled The Knight of the Swan;'* " Rash 
Vov/s," The Rival Mothers;" " The Little Emigrants;" 
and " A Refutation of the Calumnies which had been 
heaped upon her, for her Conduct during the Revolu- 
tion/' In the year 1800, she obtained leave to return 
to France; Napoleon gave her apartments in the arsenal^ 
And a pension. Since that period her pen has been 
constantly active. Her works are numerous, and all of 
them written in an elegant style, with much fancy and 
very far above mediocrity. They have been read by 
all classes of readers, and many of them translated into 
several different languages, and may be said to have 



contributed in no small degree to the improvement of m 
the rising- age. I| 



48 GLENORCHY. 




WiLHELMiNA Maxwell Glenorchy, distinguished in 
the last century for her benevolence and piety, was 
born at Preston, in North Britain, in the year 1742. 

This worthy lady, whose tenderness for orphans was 
increased by her own premature widowhood, was formed 
for a superior place in society. Her understanding was ; 
strong and capacious, and her memory retentive. Her . 
mind was polished by a liberal education, and richly j 
furnished with ideas. Her person was agreeable, her 
manner er gaging, her fancy brilhant, and attended by i 
a constant flow of spirits and good humour. Born to 
wealth, and alUed to a rich and noble house, she was 
fitted to make a distinguished figure among the great, 
and to shine in courts. In early life, as might be ex- 
pected from these circumstances, this accomplished 
young lady was filled with vanity, was fond of dress, and j 
attached to gay amusements. But, as Moses, "when . 
he was come to years, refused to be called the son of 
Phtvraoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction 
with the pe(^ple of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ 
greater than r'ches, than the treasures of Egypt:*' In 
like manner, she, in all the bloom of youth, with all 
worldly pleasures at her command, laid herself, her for- 
tune, her honours, and her talents, at the foot of the 
cross of Jesus. 



GLENORCHY. 



49 



About the twenty-third year of her age she was visit- 
ed with sickness: in recovering from which, her thoughts 
were invokintarily turned to the first question and an- 
swer of the Assembly catechism: ** What is the chief 
end of man? It is to glorify God, and to enjoy hinn 
forever:" musing on these words they arrested her at- 
tention, and naturally led her to put to herself the im- 
porlpant queries: Have I answered the design of my 
being? Have I glorified God? Shall I enjoy him forever. 

Reviewing her life of thoughtless gaiety, she found 
there was no connexion between such conduct, and the 
glorifying and enjoying of God: and that consequently, 
hitherto, she had not answered the chief end of her exist- 
ence. Her conscience was awakened, and for a con- 
siderable time she laboured under that anxiety and fear 
which usually attend such a state of mind. But on read- 
ing the fifth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, she 
discovered the way whereby the great God could be just, 
and yet the justifier of the believer in Jesus. She be- 
lieved her understanding was enlightened, her con- 
science relieved, and her mind restored to peace. The 
fruits of her faith soon gave the most unequivocal evi- 
dence to the truth of the happy change whicli had 
taken place in her mind. For sometime she endeavouf ed 
to avoid the ridicule which attends the true rehgion, 
by concealing it, and mingling in the society and amuse- 
ments to which she had been accustomed; but she soon 
found it impossible ta support the spirit and practice of 
religion, and at the same time be conformed to the 
manners of the world. She therefore openly avowed 
lier religion, and renounced the sinful enjoyments of 
the world.. From this time her whole life was one con- 



50 



GLENORGHY. 



tinned course of devotion : her closet was a little sanctu- 
ary for God, to which she habitually retired with avidity 
and pleasure. In her family there was always an altar 
to God; and from which, with the morning and the even- 
ing, regularly ascended social prayer and praise. She 
loved the house of God; and the most painful circum- 
stances of her frequent ill health in the last years of her 
life, was, her being detained by it from public worship. 

Lady Glenorchy had drawn mudh information con= 
cerning the most useful subjects, from reading, from 
conversation, and correspondence with a numerous 
circle of worthy friends, and from acute observation of 
what passed within and around her. She entered into 
conversation with much affability, and communicated 
ideas with uncommon perspicuity and readiness. The 
vivacity of her temper, the justness and sweetness of her 
remarks, could not fail to render her company accept^ 
able to any society. But important obligations of a spi» 
ritual kind afforded her little leisure or inclination for 
mixed company. Her courage in avowing and endea- 
vouring to promote on every occasion an attachment 
to the gospel, was truly admirable. None had more 
boldness, nor more ability in introducing religious dis- 
course, and directing the attention of those with whom 
she conversed to subjects that were spiritual and edify- 
ing. None could sit, for any time at her table, or in her 
company, without hearing some truths, which ought to 
be profitable to their souls. In her religion she wore 
no morose or forbidding appearance. Her temper was 
cheerful, her conversation and manners, though remote 
from the dissipation of the age, exhibited piety in a 
pleasing form, and conveyed the idea that, " wisdom's 



GLENOKCHl. 



51 



ways are ways of pleasantness, and that all her paths are 
paths of peace." She was an enemy to the theatre, 
cards, and some other amusements, in which multi- 
tiides waste much precious time. She spake from experi- 
ence of their hurtfulness to our best interests ; she thought 
it her duty to warn others of their danger, and to urge 
them to employ their time in a manner more suitable for 
imraot tal creatures, more improving to themselves, and 
more useful to society. 

She expended much money in printing and circulate 
ing religious tracts; and at her desire and expense, was 
composed and published a Gael c translation oi **A1- 
leine's Alarm to the Unconverted,'* which has been 
productive of much good in the highlands of Scotland. 
She used to say that she considered herself as a stew- 
ard of the gifts of God, and as accountable for the dis- 
charge of the important trust committed to her. Her 
life indeed was spent under the influence of this impor- 
tant truth. 3he considered her fortune and her posses- 
sions not as her own, but God s, and to be employed for 
his glory. She retrenched many personal expenses, 
and denied herself those luxuries which were likely to 
interfere with her schemes of doing good. Her charities 
were very extensive, and many of them were distributed 
with such secrecy, that the benefactress could hardly be 
traced. She sometimes expended hundreds of pounds 
in relieving indigence, and placing the family of those 
of the household of faith in situations of comfort and use- 
fulness. She directed her attention to the most useful 
of all charities, the religious education of youth. For 
this purpose, she employed teachers of acknowledged 



5£ 



GLtNORCHY. 



piety and abilities, by whom hundreds of chlldi'en were 
trained up in the knowledge of our holy religion, and 
fitted for useful stations in society. In Edinburgh she 
erected a large chapel capable of holding two thousand 
persons, and which has, for many years, been attended 
by a numerous congregation. To this chapel, she added 
a free-school, to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, 
which she endowed. She also erected and endowed a 
church at StrathfiUan, and another at the Hot-wells, 
Bristol; besides, educated many young men of piety for 
the holy ministry. Sensible that ignorance and irreli- 
gion, idleness and vice, go together, she founded and 
endowed schools, and set on foot manufactories for the 
poor. In private, the widow and the fatherless, the 
stranger and distressed, experienced her abundant bene- 
ficence. To enable her to prosecute these schemes of 
benevolence, she herself carefully looked into all her af- 
fairs, and studied the strictest economy. 

Deeply was lady Glenorchy sensible of the necessity 
of watchfulness and prayer, and spent much of her time 
in the duties of secret devotion. She was careful to 
have her servants duly instructed in religion, as well as 
the worship of God, regularly maintained in her family. 
She failed not to give her frequent advice and assistance 
to all under her roof, as to the concerns of their souls 
and eternity. Her breast glowed with the most fervent 
love to the divine Redeemer of a lost world. His un- 
paralleled condescension and grace were the favourite 
subjects of her attention and discourse. She thought 
she could never do enough to testify her gratitude to 
this most gracious benefactor and her attachment to the 
gospel. It was this principle which excited an affec 



GODWIX* 



55 



tlonate concern and man;, kind endeavours for her re- 
lations and friends. It was this motive which influ- 
enced her to devote her substance to the purposes of 
piety and beneficence. After all these exertions, none 
was more fully convinced, or more ready to acknow- 
ledg-e, that we are not justified by our own works, but 
fx eely, and only by the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. 

Her incessant and varied occupations appear to have 
injured her health; and she had scarcely attained to 
years of maturity when the world and the church were 
deprived of this friend of religion and humanity. 
Thoug-h her health declined, her activity and usefulness 
were unabated; till on the 17th of July, 1780, she was 
summoned to receive that reward, which on every dili- 
gent and faithful servant, God has promised to bestow. 
She bequeathed by her will, £5000 for the education 
of young men for the ministry in England; £5000 to the 
society in Scotland fcr the propagation of christian 
knowledge; and the greatest part of the residue of her 
property to charitable and pious purposes. 

Her life and writings have been published since her 
death in two volumes, 8vo. 



Mart GoDwiiir, better known by her maiden name of 
Wolstonecraft, a writer of considerable, but eccentric 
genius, was born in London in the year 1759. Her pa- 
rents, whose circumstances were humble, afterwards re- 
moved to Beverly, in Yorkshire, where she attended a 
day scliool. She afterwards returned to London, but 
E 2 



54 



GODWIN. 



nothing remarkable appears to have taken place until 
after she had attained the age of tweniy-four, except 
her adoption of very singular opinions in respect to the 
privileges of her own sex, and on religion, politics, and 
matters generally. At Newington Green, she opened a 
school in conjunction with her sisters, and obtained the 
notice and friendship of Dr. Price. About this period 
she wrote a pamphlet, entitled " Thoughts on the Edu- 
cation of Daughters;'^ the copy right of which she sold 
for ten guineas to Mr. Johnson, a bookseller, who after- 
wards proved one of her most liberal patrons. For 
some time she acted as governess in the family of an 
Irish nobleman, in quitting which, she had recourse to 
her pen for support, and produced ** Mary, a Fiction;" 
"Original Letters from Real Life;" "The Female 
Reader," and some articles in the Analytical Review. 
She was, also, one of the first to answer Burke's Reflec- 
tions on tl\e French Revolution, which was followed by 
her celebrated "Vindication of the Rights of Women." 
The eccentricity of her theory was altogether equalled 
by the singularity of her practice, which led her first in- 
to the indulgence of a romantic, but fruitless attach- 
ment, to Mr, Fuseli, and afterwards with Mr. ImJay, an 
American, whose desertion caused her to attempt sui- 
cide. This ardent passion, like the former, was, how-^ 
ever, overcome by a succeeding one, the object of 
which was Mr. Godwin, author of ** Political Justice,'* 
" Caleb Williams," and other well known productions. 
This connexion, however, proved unfortunate, as she 
died in childbed, after being delivered of a daughter, m 
August, 1797. 



GOMEZ. 55 

From the account g-iren of her by her biographer, it 
apj)ears that she was a woman of great, but undiscipUn- 
ed, natural powers, and strong- passions, to the sugges- 
tions of which she yielded, as to the voice of nature. As 
a companion, she was intelligent and entertaining. Be- 
sides tiie works already taken notice of, she published 
a Moral and Historical View of the French Revolu- 
tion," and " Letters from Norway," which are written 
with great sense and elegance. After her death, Mr, 
Godwin published in four volumes, 12mo. some miscel- 
laneous letters, avid an unfinished novel, with a life of 
the authoress, almost as curious as herself, and which, 
it is apprehended, will do little to advance the credit of 
the theory under which she acted. 



Magdelen An&elica Poissoj? Gomez, a French writer 
of romances, was born in Paris, about the year 1684, 
and died at Germaine-en-laye, in 1770. She published 

Les Journees Amusantes," eight volumes; " Cre- 
mentine," two volumes; " Anecdotes Persans," two vo- 
lumes; " Hist, du Comte d'Oxford," two volumes; " La 
Jeune Alcidiane," three volumes; Les Cent Nou- 
vell^," eight volumes; all of which are written in a fas- 
cinating style, and are still admired. She also wrote 
some tragedies, which were .unsuccessful. 



Isabella Graham. This pious, charitable, and in- 
tellig-ent woman, was born in Scotland, in the county of 
Lanark, on tlie 29th of July, 1742. Her father and 
mother, Mr. and Mrs. John Marshall, were both religious 
people, and not only educated their daughter in the 
principles of the church of Scotland, but instilled into 
her young and tender mind, the value of that religion, 
the truths of which she exemplified in her maturer years. 
Mrs. Graham spent the first years of her valuable life at 
an estate of her father's at Eldersley. She was accus- 
tomed, from her infancy, to habits of industry? and one 
great, and pleasing instance, of her fondness for learn- 
ing, was displayed by her before the age of ten years. 
Her grandfather, who was particularly attached to her, 
at his death, bequeathed her the sum of several huadred 
pounds, which she wisely requested might be devoted 
to the improvement of her mind. She was, therefore, 
committed to the care of an intellgent, well-informed 
woman, of the name of Elizabeth Morehead, as distin- 
guished for her piety and worth, as she was for her in- 
tellectual and literary endowments. The valuable les- 
sons which this excellent woman impressed on the 
flexible mind of her beloved pupil, were never forgotten 
by her. Isabella for some time enjoyed the pastoral 
exertions of the late excellent Dr. Witherspoon, presi- 
dent of Princeton College; and, when she had arrived at 
the age of seventeen, she was admitted by . him to the 
sacrament of the Lord's supper. In the year IfGi, she 
became acquainted with Dr. John Graham, a physician 



GRAHAM. 



57 



m Paisley, a man of an excellent and liberal education, 
to whom afterwards she was married, and by w horn she 
had four children. 

In a short time after their marriag-e, her husband was 
obhged to join his regiment, then stationed in Canada. 
In this country, she spent four of the happiest years of 
her life. At the expiration of this time, they found it 
necessary to take up their next residence in Antigua, 
where she was called to submit to a most severe dis- 
pensation of Providence, viz. the removal of her be- 
loved husband by death, who fell a victim to a malig- 
nant fever, which terminated fatally, on the 17th of No- 
vember, 1774. On examining into the affairs of Dr. 
Graham, there remained not more than £200 sterling; 
but, although her property was, therefore, very small, 
she generously refused to dispose of two Indian girls, 
then under her care, although such disposition was con- 
sistent with the laws of the country, and with the cus- 
toms of the natives. Shortly after tjie death of her hus- 
band, she was confined with her only son, whom she 
dedicated- to God. Having no inducement to reside 
longer at Antigua, she returned to Cartside, in Scot- 
land, there to reside with her father, who, from ad- 
verse fortune, now depended upon the industry of his 
daughter for support. From Cartside she removed to 
Paisley, where she undertook the care of a few young 
ladies, which, with the pension of £16 sterling, was the 
means of subsistence for herself and children; and, shortly 
afterwards, removed to Edinburgh. Her tender and 
judicious management of young persons, ensured her 
the love of her pupils, many of whom afterwards evinced 
their affection and gratitude to her. 



■58 



GRAHAM. 



Mrs. Graham's partiality for America, determiried ber 
to return thither; and, in the month of July, 1789, she 
left Scotland for America, and arrived at New York on 
the 8th of September, where she was received with the 
greatest kindness by Dr. Rogers, and Dr. Mason. She 
then ag-ain opened her seminary wUh as much success 
as before, and, in this place became a member of Dr. 
Mason's church. But though greatly distinguished for 
her personal endowments, Mrs. Giaham is peculiarly 
eminent as a public benefactor. In tlie year 1799, a so- 
ciety was instituted at Ncv/ York for the rehef of poor 
widows, with small children; a society, which arose into 
great respectability, and has been productive of very 
beneficial effects. The original plan of the society was 
formed at her house; and she made, at the first anni- 
versary, a very pleasing report of the proceedings of the 
managers, and of the amount of relief afforded to the 
poor. During the winter of 1799, she was indefatigable 
in her attentions to the poor; she exerted herself to 
procure work for her widows, and occupied much of her 
time in cutting it out, and preparing it for them. The 
managers of the widow's society had each a separate 
district; and Mrs. Graham, as first directress, had a ge- 
neral superintendence of the whole. The society for 
the relief of poor widows with small children, having 
received a charter of incorporation, and some pecuniary 
aid from the legislature of the state, the ladies who con- 
stituted the board of direction, were engaged in plans 
for extending their usefulness, and she took an active 
part in exeeuting such plans. The society purchased 
a small house, where they received works of various 
kinds for the employment of their widows. They 



GRAHAM. 



59 



opened a school for the instruction of their orphans, and 
many of her former pupils volunteered their services, 
taking" upon themselves, by rotation, the part of instruc- 
trs. Besides establishing* this school, Mrs. Graham se- 
lected some of the widows best quaUfied for the task, 
and engag-edthem, for a small compensation, to open day 
schools for the instruction of the children in distant 
parts of the city. She also established two Sunday 
schools, one of which she superintended herself, and 
the other she placed under the care of her daughter. 

Whenever she met with Christians sick and in pover- 
ty, she visited and comforted them; and, in some in- 
stances, opened small subscription lists, to provide for 
their support. She attended, for some years, at the alms- 
houses, for the instruction of the cl>ildren there, in reli- 
gious knowledge. The winter of 1805 was unusually 
severe : the river Hudson was shut by frost as early as 
November: fuel was, consequently, very dear, and the 
poor greatly suffered: and to their temporal and spiritual 
wants, she paid the greatest attention, by the distriou- 
tlon of Bibles, and the printing and the circalation of 
moral and religious tracts. On the 15th of March, iBl5, 
the female subscribers, in order to make proposals for 
providing an asylum for orphan children, met at the city 
hotel. Mrs. Graham was called to the chair, a society 
organized, and a board of direction chosen. S^rs. HolF- 
man was elected the first directress of the Orphan 
Asylum Society. Mrs. Graham continued in the office 
of first directress of the Widow's Society, but tVlt also 
much interest in the success of the Orphan Asylum So- 
ciety; and lierself, or one of her family, ta. ght the 
^)rphans daily, until the funds of the institution were 



60 



GRAHAM. 



sufficient to provide a teacher and superintendent. For 
several years it was customary" for Mrs. Graham to visit 
the hospital; and she directed her attention particularly 
to cases of insanity. 

In the wiiiter of 1807, when the suspension of com- 
merce, by the embargo, rendered the situation of the 
poor more destitute than ever, Mrs. Graham adopted a 
plan best calculated, in her view, to detect the idle ap- 
plicants for charity; and, at the same time, to furnish 
emplo^Tnent for the more worthy among the female 
poor. She purchased flax, and lent wheels, when such 
applicants had none: such as were industrious, took the 
work with thankfulness, nd were paid for it; those who 
%vere beggars by profession, never kept their word by 
returning for the flax or the wheel: the flax thus spun 
was afterwards woven, bleached, and made into table- 
cloths for family use. In the year 1811, some gentle- 
men of New York established a Magdalen Societj^; they 
elected a board of ladies, requesting their aid to super- 
intend the internal management of the Magdalen house: 
this board chose Mrs. Graham their presiding lady, 
which office she held until her decease; and its attend- 
ing duties she discharged with fidelity and zeal. In 
1812, the trustees of the Lancasterian «chool, solicited 
the attendance of several pious ladies, to give catecheti- 
cal instruction to their scholars, one afternoon in even' 
week. Mrs. Graham attended regularly to that duty. 
In the spring of 1814, she was requested to unite with 
some ladies, in forming a society for the promotion of 
industP}' among the poor; and to that object she afforded 
her best support. But the termination of such varied 
and important labours now appeared to approach. Fo-- 



GRAHAM. 



61 



some weeks previous to her last illness, she was favour- 
ed with unrisual health, and much enjoyment of religion. 
She was greatly delig-hted at the success of missionary 
and Bible societies. She spoke with much affection of 
Mr. Go! c^on, Mr. Lee, and Mr. May, with whom she had 
been acquainted, when in New York, on their way to 
missionary stations in India. For Mr. Robert Morrison, 
whom she hari seen in 1807, on his way to China, she 
entertained a very high regard. She was much pleased 
with the solid talents, ardent piety, and persevering 
zeal, vvhich she discerned in his character. On the two 
Sabbath days preceding her last illness, she partook of 
the communion, and was much engaged in religious ex- 
ercises. On Tuesday, the 19th, she complained of not 
feeling well, and kept her room; on Thursday, her dis- 
order proved to be a cholera morbus, and her children 
sent for a physician; and the 24th of July, 1814, *«her 
spirit winged its flight from a mansion of clay, to the 
realms of glory; while around the precious remnant of 
earth, her family and friends stood weeping, yet elevated 
by the scene they were witnessing." Thus she depart^ 
ed in peace, not trusting in her own wisdom or virtue, 
like philosophers of Greece and Rome; — not even like 
Addison, calUng on the profligate to see a good man 
die; but, like Howard, afraid that her good works might 
have a wrong place in the estimate of her hope: — her 
chief glory was that of a simier saved by grace. Her 
writings have been published since her death, in one vo- 
lume, 12mo. 



62 



GRANT GREY* 



Mrs. GiiAifT, whose maiden name was Campbell, was 
born at Glasgow. Scotland, on the 22d February, 1756. 
When a child, she accompanied her father to this coun- 
try, and spent a considerable time in the interior of New 
York. She afterwards returned to Scotland, and in 1779 
was married to the Rev. Mr. Grant of Lag-gan, by whom 
she had a numerous family. On the death of her husband, 
she was obliged to have recourse to her pen for a sub- 
sistence. In 1803, she published " The Higlilanders, 
and other Poems;" in 1808, " Memoirs of an American 
Lady;" and shortly after Letters from the Mountains," 
which has reached a fourth edition. In 1811, " Essays 
on the Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland," and 
afer wards, " Popular Models, and Impressive Warnings, 
for the Sons and Daughters of Industry," 2 vols. All her 
works have merit, and have been well received. 



Jane Grey, a young and accomplished female of 
royal descent, eldest daughter of Henry Grey, marq\iis 
of Dorset, afterwards duke of Suffolk, was born at Broad- 
gate, Leicestershire, in the year 1535. On the side of 
lier mother, she was allied to the house of Tudor, but 
she was much more illustrious for her virtues, than ele- 
vated by her high descent. To a form the most lovely, 
and to features the most engaging, was united a mind 
replete with every attractive grace: her disposition vr^% 



GUEV. 



G3 



mi id, her heart susceptible, and she mig'ht, with justice, 
be called the admiration of the ag'e. In very early life, 
§he gave wonderful proofs of the greatness of her mind; 
and was regarded superior to her cousin, Edward the 
Sixth. 

Her father, the marquis of Dorset, was a literary man. 
His chaplains, Harding and A5dmer, both eminent for 
learning, he employed as tutors to his daughter. Under 
their tuition, she made a wondeHiil proficiency; she 
wrote and spoke her own language elegantly, and with 
great correctness; and was a perfect mistress of the 
Italian, French, Latin and Greek tongues. She also ac- 
quired a perfect knowledge of the Hebrew, Chaldee, 
and Arabic. She reasoned and spoke upon subjects of 
the greatest importance, to a degree which surprised 
and delighted even the literati of the day. Her parents 
appear to have been, from her own statement, singularly 
severe in their behaviour towards her. This circum- 
stance, united with the kindness of Aylmer, accelerated 
her progress in those branches of literature, for which 
she was so justly celebrated; as, whenever she was mor- 
tified by the unkind and unmerited correction of her 
parents, she returned with double alacrity to the lessons 
of her instructer, and sought her happiness in perusing 
the works of Demosthenes and Plato. 

Her relationship to the crown, and the intimacy of the 
marquis of Dorset with Edward the Sixth, brought her 
sometimes to court, where the young king frequently 
bestowed on her marks of favour. 

The greatest portion of her time, however, appears to 
have been spent at her father's seat, at Broadgate, 
whence she was summoned by the deaths of her uncles 



64 



GREY. 



Henry and Charles Brandon, when her father was ere* 
ated duke of Suffolk, in October, 1551. The dukes of 
Northumberland and Suffolk, upon the fall of the duk^ 
of Somerset, and the decline of the health of Edward 
the Sixth, in 1553, endeavoured to prevent that change 
in their fortunes, which they foresaw must happen on 
his demise. To accomplish this end, no other method 
was considered effectual, but a total change in the suc- 
cession to the crown, and the transferring of it into tlieir 
own families. Lady Grey was destined to be the promi- 
nent character in such revolution. Those qualities which 
endeared her to all with whom she was acquainted, 
united to her relation to the kiiTg, necessitated her to 
become the tool of ambition; and, on that very account 
she was manned in May, 1553, to lord Guildford Dudley^ 
fourth son of the duke of Northumberland. 

Edward became gradually so much worse, that the 
duke of Northumberland thought it adviseable to carry 
his projects into execution. He, therefore, n»ad^- his 
communications to the king, who, after making several 
objections, as the affair would injure his sisters, Mary 
and Elizabeth, Edward observed, that the lady Jane 
who was of the royal line, possessed surprishig abili- 
ties-— that her zeal for the reformation was unquestio .ed 
—and that he was bound to set aside all partialities of 
blood and nearness of relation, which were minor con- 
siderations, and ought to be overruled by the public 
good. 

The king at last yielded; overlooked his sisters, and 
set aside his father's will; agi-eeably to which, a deed of 
settlement was drawn up by the judges, and was signed 
by his majesty, and all the lords of the council. Very, 



OllEV. 



G3 



shortly afterwards the king* expired, which event the 
dukes of SuflTolk and Northumberland found it necessary 
to conceal, that more time might be allowed them to 
%ain the city of London, and g-et the consent of lady 
Jane, who was ignorant of the measures taken to secure 
her the crown. Mary, at this time, asserted her right 
to the throne; but the privy council insisted on the un- 
doubted right of lady Jane to become their queen. This 
being accomplished, the duke of Suffolk solemnly open- 

* cd to his daijghter, the disposition the late king had 
made of his crown by letters patent, and the consent of 
the privy council, and the city of London, and concluded 
by acknowledging her as queen of England, on his 
knees; at which she was much astonished at their dis- 
course, but not at all moved by their reasons, or in the 
least elevated by such unexpected honours, returned 
them the following answer: " That the laws of the king- 
dom, and natural right, standing for the king's sisters, 
she would beware of burdening her weak conscience 

. with a yoke which did belong to them; that she under- 
stood the infamy of those who had permitted the viola- 
tion of right to gain a sceptre; that it were to mock God 
and deride justice, to scruple at the stealing of a shilling-, 
and not at the usurpation of a crown. Besides," said 
she, " I am not so young, nor so little read in the guiles 
of fortune, to suffer myself to be taken by them. If she 
enrich any, it is but to make them the subject of her 
spoil; if she raise others, it is but to pleasure herself with 
their ruins; what she adored but yesterday, is to-day her 
pastime; and, if I now permit her to adorn and crown 
me, I must to-morrow suffer her to crush and tear me to 
pieces. Nay, with what crown docs she present me ? a 
t2 



66 



GREY. 



crown which hath been violently^nd shamefully wrest* 
ed from Catharine of Arragon, made more unfortunate 
by the punishment of Anne Bole5'n, and others that 
wore it after her: and why then should you have me^ 
add my blood to theirs, and be the third victim, from 
whom this fatal crown may be ravished, with the head 
that wears it? But in case it should not prove fatal unto 
me, and that all its venom were consumed, if fortune 
should give me warranties of her constancy, should 1 be 
well advised to take upon me these thorns, which would 
dilacerate, though not kill me outright; to burthen my- 
self with a yoke, which would not fail to torment me, 
though I were assured not to be strangled with it ? My 
liberty is better than the chain you proffer me, with 
what precious stones soever it be adorned, or of w*hat 
gold soever framed. I will not exchange my peace for 
honourable and precious jealousies, for magnificent and 
glorious fetters. And, if you love me sincerely, and in 
good earnest, you will rather wish me a secure and 
quiet fortune, though mean, than an exalted condition, 
exposed to the wind, and followed by some dismal fall.^' 
She was at length, nevertheless, prevailed upon by the 
exhortations of her father, the intercession of her mo- 
ther, the artful persuasions of Northumberland, and 
above all, the earnest desires of her husband, whom 
she tenderly loved, to yield h^r assent to what had been 
and was to be done. And thus, with a heavy heart, she 
suffered herself to be conveyed by water to the Tower, 
where she entered with all the state of a queen, at- 
tended by the principal nobility. 

She was then proclaimed queen, but her reign was 
of short duration, for in nine days afterwards, Mary was 



GREY. 



6r 



proclaimed in London. Queen Mary was no sooner pro- 
claimed, than the duke of Suffolk, who then resided 
with his daughter in the Tower, went to her apartn>ent, 
and, in the softest terms he could, acquainted her with 
the situation of their affairs, and that, laying aside the 
state and dignity of a queen, she must again return to 
that of a private person: to which, with a settled and se- 
rene countenance, she made this answer: " I better 
brook this message, than my former advancement to 
royalty: out of obedience to you and my mother, I have 
grievously sinned, and offered violence to myself. Now 
I do willingly, and as obeying the motians of my soul, 
relinquish the crown, and endeavour to salve those 
faults committed by others, by a willing relinquishment, 
and ingenuous acknowledgment of them." Thus ended 
her reign, and she now hoped again to enjoy the charms 
of retirement. But such delights were not allowed 
her. She was soon after conveyed to a prison, and 
there, with her beloved husband, she was confined; who, 
in the same year, 1553, was taken with her to Guild- 
hall, convicted of high treason, and had sentence of 
death pronounced upon them. This was, indeed, a 
trial for her goodness, virtue, and piety, for which she 
was so strikingly eminent, and which supported her in 
the sunset of life, and enabled her to display that firm- 
ness, dignity, and resignation, with which she ascended 
the scaffold. 

The day appointed for the execution of lady Jane and 
lord Dudley, was the 12th of February, 1554. The fatal 
morning having arrived, her husband was desirous to 
take a long farewell of his beloved wife; but she de- 
clined, saying, " Such a meeting would rather add to 



6S 



GREY. 



his afflictions, than increase that quiet whereAvith they 
had possessed their soub for the stroke of death; that 
he demanded a lenity, which would put fire into the 
wound, and it was rather to be feared that her presence 
would rather weaken than streng-then him; that he 
would do well to remit this interview to the other world; 
thai there, indeed, friendships were happy, and unions 
indissoluble; and that theirs would be eternal, if they 
carried nothing with tliem of terrestrial, which might 
hinder them from rejoicing." She expressed aU the 
affection that was possible, when she was witness to 
his benig led to the scaffold, but very soon overcame 
it, when she remembered what a very short separation 
she was to endure. All she could do, was to take a fare* 
well of him out of the window, as he passed to that spot, 
on which he so *meekly endured his unmerited punish- 
ment. Previous to her being led to execution, she 
wrote three short sentences in her table-book, in Greek, 
Lathi, and Enghsh; which book, upon his entreaty, she 
presented to Sir John Bridges. The sense of the Greek 
sentence was: "If his slain body shall give testimony 
against me before men, his most blessed soul shall ren- 
der an eternal proof of my innocence in the presence of 
God." The Latin sentence was to this effect: ** The 
justice of men took away his body, but the divine mercy 
has preserved his soul." And the Enghsh sentence ran 
thus: **If my fault deserved punishment, my youth at 
least, and my imprudence, were worthy of excuse. God 
and posterity will show me favour." She was led out 
by the lieutenant of the tower to the place of her punish- 
ipent, by tlie white tower, when she was attended by 
Mr. Feckenham, but did not give much heed to his con- 



GHEY. 



69 



vergatlon, but kept her eyes steadfastly on a book of 
prayers she held in her hand. After some short recol- 
lection, she saluted those who were present with a coun- 
tenance pei*fectly composed; then taking leave of Mr. 
Feckenham, she delivered the following speech: ** My 
lords, and you good christian people which come to see 
me die, I am under a law, and by that law, as a never- 
erring-judge, I am condemned to die, not for any thing 
I have offended the queen's majesty, for I will wash my 
hands guiltless thereof, and deliver to my God a soid as 
pure from such trespass, as innocent from injustice, but 
only for tliat I consented to the thing I was forced unto, 
constraint making the law believe I did that which I 
never understood. 

" Notwithstanding, I have offended Almighty God, in 
that I have followed overmuch the lust of my own flesh, 
and the pleasures of this wretched world; neither have 
1 lived according to the knowledge that God hath 
given me, for which cause God hath appointed to me 
this kind of death, and that most worthily according to 
my deserts; howbeit, I thank him heartily, that he hath 
given me time to repent of my sins in this world, and 
to reconcile myself to my Redeemer, whom my former 
vanities had in a great measure displeased. Wherefore, 
my lords, and all you good christian people, I most ear- 
nestly desire you all to pray with me, and for me, while 
I am yet alive, that God of his infinite goodness and 
mercy will forgive my sins, how numberless and griev- 
ous soever against him: and I beseech you all to bear 
me witness that I here die a true christian woman, pro- 
fessing aad avouclnng from my soul that I trust to be 
saved by the blood, passion, and merits of Jesus Christ 



70 



GREY. 



my Saviour only, and by no other means, casting faf 
behind me all the works and merits of mine own actions, 
as things so short of the true duty 1 owe, that I quake 
to think how much they may stand up against me." 

Having delivered this speech, she kneeled down, and 
repeated the fifty-first psalm in a most devout manner; 
after which she stood up, and gave her gloves and her 
handkerchief to her waiting women, and her prayer-book 
to Sir John Bridges. On her untying her gown the exe- 
cutioner offered to assist her, but she desired him to 
let her alone, and turning herself to her women they 
helped her off with itj and gave her an handkerchief to 
bind about her eyes. The executioner kneeling down 
requested her forgiveness, which she most willingly gave 
him. Upon this he desired her to stand upon the straw, 
which bringing her within sight of the block, she said, 

I pray despatch me quickly.*' Then kneeling down 
she asked, "Will you take it oflTbefore llay me down?" 
to which the executioner replied, "No, Madam " She 
then t ed her handkerchief about her eyes, and feeling 
for the block, said, " What shall I do ? where is it ?" Upon 
which, one of the stander> -by guiding her to it, she laid 
her head down upon the block, and stretched herself 
forward, and said, "Lord, into thy hands 1 comment my 
spirit;" and immediately the executioner at one stroke 
severed her head from her body. Thus resigned, this 
interesting and pious woman gave her pure spirit into 
the hands of her heavenly Father; and is now possessing 
a crown incorruptible, and that fadeth not away. 

The smallest remains of this incomparable person 
being precious, we shall insert the following verses, 
written by her in the place of her confinement. 



GREY. 



ri 



Non aliena putes hominl qux obting-ere possunt: 
Sors hodierna mihi eras crat ilia tibi. 

in English — 

Think not, O mortal! vainly gay, 

That thou from human woes art free ; 
The bitter cup I drink to day. 

To-morrow may be drunk by thee. 

Deo juvante nil nocet livor mains, 
Et non juvante, nil juvat labor gravis, 
Post tenebras spero lucem. 

In English — 

Endless all malice, if our God is nigh; 

Fruitless all pains, if he his help deny^ 
Patient I pass these gloomy hours away. 
And wait the morning" of eternal day. 

Though history afPoi-ds many instances of cruelty 
which shock the feelings of humanity, there is no one 
which produces a similar effect to that which is excited 
by the death of Lady Jane Grey; and it is scarcely pos- 
sible to reflect upon the savage barbarity of Mary, with- 
out hoiTor and detestation agitating the heart. That 
youth and beaut)^, innocence and virtue, should have 
been sacrificed to gratify revenge and spleen, was an 
act of iniquitous injustice scarcely to be paralleled; and 
jf not too fully authenticated, could not be believed. 
I * The character of Lady Jane was so transcendantly amia- 
ble, her mxanners were so unassuming, her disposition so 
mild, that it seems almost impossible that she could 
have excited a transient displeasure; but completely de- 



I 



72 GRIFFITH. 

moniac must have been that being, who could deprive 
her of Hfe. Whether we view her in the character of ■ 
a wife, or a daughter; whether we behold her confined 
in a prison or elevated to the dignity of a queen, still 
she appears formed to excite admiration and affection, I 
by the sweetness of her temper and the comprehensive / 
pow ers of her mind. 

Besides her writings already quoted, there are three 
Latin epistles to Buliinger, printed in the Epistolae ab 
Ecclesise Helvetiese reformatoribus vel ad eos scripts," .a 
1742, 8vo. Ba3de also ascribes to her pen The Com- J 
plaint of a Sinner," and "The Devout Cliristian.'* A I 
book entitled " The Precious Remains of Lady Jane I 
Grey," 4to. was published directly after her execution; ■ 
and letters and other pieces ascribed to her may be 
found in Fox's Martyrology. 



GRIFFITH. 

Elizabeth Griffith, an ingenious and amusing wii- , 
ter, was a native of Wales. She was married in early | 
life, to Richard Griffith, Esq., a gentleman of small for- i 
tune in Ireland. Her first literary performance was en- 
titled " The Letters of Henry and Frances," which is \ 
said to contain the genuine correspondence of her hus- 
band and herself, before and sometime after their mar- 
riage. The next she gnve to the world was entitled. 

Memoirs of Ninon de I'Enclos," collected from differ- 
ent authors, digested and translated from the French, 
with her letters to St. Evremond and the Marquis de 
Sevigne; interspersed with a variety of original matter 



GROUCHY. 



notes, and many judicious comments from her own pen. 
This task was a hazardous one, but she conducted her- 
self so admirably through it, that it afforded a just oq* ^ 
casion for the following* distich. 

** Whilst Ninon's spirit kindles all love's fire. 
Thy moral chastens every loose desire." 

She next wrote in conjunction with her husband two 
novels in letters, four volumes; the first and second en- 
titled Delicate Distress" by Frances; the third and 
fourth, " The Gordian Knot" by Henry. To these suc- 
ceeded two novels from her own pen, entitled, " Lady 
Barton" and " Lady Juliana Hartley," besides some 
Dramas which had various success. But the perform- 
ance which reflected the highest honour upon Mrs, 
Griffith, was *' The Morality of Shakspeare's Drania il- 
lustrated." In the comments and reflections which are - 
made upon this immortal bard's productions, she has 
manifested a thorough knowledge of the human heart, 
an elevation of sentiment, a refinement of ethics, a de- 
vout sense of rehgion, and a just notion of the duties of 
life. This amiable and interesting woman closed her 
earthly career, in the county of Kildare, Ireland, in the 
year 1793, leaving a memory completely unspotted, and 
a name universally admired. 



Sophia Grouchy, sist/er of Marshal Grouchy, and wi- 
dow of the celebrated philosopher Condorcet, was care» 



74 



GUYGN. 



fully educated, and cultivated literature with success. 
She was the translator of two works of Smith's into t'rench, 
viz. " The Theory of Moral Sentiments," and " Disser- 
tations on the Origin of Languages." The latter also 
contains eight " Let^:ers on Sympathy," in which she 
supplies some omissions of the author, w^hom she exa- 
mines, modifies and often combats. Her translation is 
remarkable for the elegance and purity of its style, the 
ideas and severity of philosophical language. She died 
in 1822, universally regretted. 



Jean Makie Bouviers de la Motke Gtjyon, the 
friend and preceptress of the celebrated Fenelon, arch- 
bishop of Cambray, was descended of a noble family, 
and born at Montargis, April 13, 1648. She was educat- 
ed in a convent of Ursalines, and w^ould have taken the 
veil, but was obhged by her father to give her hand to 
a country gentleman of the name of Guy on. At the 
age of twenty-eight she became a widow, with three 
children. The first years of her widowhood she devot- 
ed herself to the regulation of her domestic affairs, and 
the education of her children. In the midst of these 
laudable cares she was seized with a spiritual impulse, 
and gave herself up to the cultivation of mystical devo- 
tion, which has obtained the name of quietism, the lead- 
ing distinction of which is a passive abandonment to 
what are deemed divine impulses, and a complete re- 
nunciation of self, the silence of the soul, and the anni- 
hilation of all earthly cares and emotions. The fame of 



GUYON. 



75 



her conversion and doctrines having reached Paris, ca- 
lumny made such a representation of her conduct, that 
in 1688 she was shut up by the king's order in a con- 
vent. Through the intercession of Madame Maintenon, 
who became her friend, if not her disciple, she soon 
obtained her liberty, and even appeared at Versailles, 
and St. Cyr. Such were the attractions of her insinuat- 
ing eloquence, and tender and ardent devotion, that 
several of the first ladies of the court began to profess 
her opinions, and she ended in the conquest of the illus- 
trious Fenelon. His patronage however, could not 
protect her from the rigid ecclesiastics, headed by Bos- 
suet, who caused thirty-four articles to be drawn up in 
condemnation of the system of Quietism, which, in 1695, 
she was obliged to sign in her retreat at the monastery 
atMeaux. She, however, returned to Paris, when her zeal 
again leading her to make proselytes, she was finally con- 
fined in the Bastile, from which she was liberated in 1702, 
and retired to Blois; where she passed the rest of her life 
in the private exercise of a devotion which, although the 
result of a heated imagination, was certainly sincere. 
The walls of her chamber, the tables and furniture, were 
covered with numerous verses, which, after lier death, 
were collected and published under the title **Cantiques 
Spirituels, ou d'Emblemes sur P Amour Divin her works 
consist of " Reflections et Explications concernant la 
Vie Interieure," twenty volumes; "Discours Chre- 
tiennes," two volumes; Letters to Several Persons," 
four volumes; "Her Life," written by herself, in three 
volumes; "Visitations," two volumes; "Opuscules," 
two volumes. She died in 1717. Some of her poems 



76 



HAxMlLTON. 



have been translated by the gifted but unhappy Cow- 
per, and appear in the 4to. edition of his works. 



XZiLMXXsTOM. 

Elizabeth Hamiltoist, author of Letters on Educa- 
tion," was born in Belfast, Ireland, July 25th, 1758. At 
an early age, she was distinguished for sound sense, and 
a discriminating judgment. From the age of thirteen 
she had recourse to her pen for amusement, and her 
effusions, although chiefly in verse, are marked \w\th. 
rigorous conception, and a lively imagination. Her first 
publication, entitled the " Hindoo Rajah," in four vo- 
lumes, was favourably received, and was soon after- 
wards followed by a work entitled " The Modern Philo- 
sophers," in three volumes. Flattered by the reception 
of these works, she then laid the foundation of another 
work which promises to be permanently and extensive- 
ly useful. The first volume of this work, entitled ** Let- 
ters on Education," appeared in 1801. In these let- 
ters," the most admired of all her productions, and on 
which rests her literary fame. Miss Hamilton shows that 
she has studied the history of the human mind, as well 
as the best moral and metaphysical writers, and has add- 
ed new value to their knowledge, by rendering it 
practically useful: she has likewise explained how the 
knowledge of metaphysics can be made serviceable to 
the art of education; how the doctrine of the association 
of ideas may be applied in early education to the forma- 
tion of the habits of the temper, and of the principles of 



HAMILTON. 



77 



taste and of morals. Slie has likewise shown, how all 
that metaphysicians know of sensation and abstraction, 
can be applied to the cultivation of the attention, the 
judg-ment and the imaginations of children. 

She has also done much in awakening the attention 
of mothers, and directing their enquiries rightly — much 
by exciting them to reflect upon their own minds, and 
to observe what passes in the minds of their children: 
she has opened anew field of investigation to women — ■ 
a field fitted to their domestic habits, — to their duties 
as mothers, and to their business as preceptors of youth 
to whom it belongs to give the minds of children those 
first impressions and ideas which remain the longest, 
and which influence them often, the most powerfully, 
through the whole course of life. 

The tract on'Pestalozzi, which appeared in 1815, was 
the last work by this pious and moral writer. From 
this period her health, which had always been delicate, 
now rapidly declined, and bid defiance to the best medi- 
' cal aid. After two or three unsuccessful trials of the Har- 
rowgate spa, with her usual promptitude of decision, she 
pronounced her malady mortal^ and having adjusted all 
her worldly concerns, prepared, without a murmur, for 
approaching dissolution. During some weeks she lin- 
gered perfectly sensible to the progress of decay. The 
piety she had so long cherished did not desert her in 
these' awful moments: the few v/ords she articulated 
were expressive of resignation to the divine will, of af- 
fection for her surviving friends, of aspirations for hap- 
piness and immortality. Her last moments of existence 
were exempted from severe suffering: she sunk into 



HVPATIA. 



slumber tlvat prefigured death, and finally, without a 
struggle, breathed her last on the 23d of July, 1816, in 
her fifty-ninth year. Besides the above-mentioned works, 
Miss Hamilton pubhshed ''Life of Agripina" three vo-^ 
lumes; ''Letters on the Formation of the Rehgious and 
Moral Principle,'' two volumes; " The Cottagers of 
Glenburnie;'' ''Popular Essays," two volumes, &c. 



HlTFiLTIA. 

Hyp ATI A was the daughter of Theon, who, distin- 
guished for his astronomical knowledge, presided over 
the celebrated academy of Alexandiia in Egypt, to- 
wards the latter end of the fourth century. Hypatia, 
who early manifested extraordinary capacity and acute- 
ness of mind, was educated by her father in all the 
learning of the times, and initiated into the abstruse 
sciences; while, to a profound erudition, she added all 
the graces, charms, and accomplishments of her sex. 
Her endowments, and progress in every branch of learn- 
ing and knowledge, is established by the concurrent 
testimony of a crowd of contemporary writers, both 
civil and ecclesiastical, by wiiom she is said to have sur- 
passed her father in astronomical skill, and to have ex- 
celled in general learning, the philosophers of her time. 
Synesius, Socrates, Philostorgius, Damascius, Niceplio- 
rus, Gregoras, Callistus, Photius, Suidas, and Hesychius, 
have, with others, spoken of the extraordinary learning 
and genius of Hypatia. By Socrates, an ecclesiastical 
historian, and, consequently, an unsuspected witness, 
she is expressly said to have outstripped in learning, all 



HYPATIA. 



79 



ihe philosophers of her age, " and those of every other 
age.'' Tliis testimony is corroborated by Nicephonis, 
also an ecclesiastical writer. By Philostorgius it is like- 
wise aiiirmed, that she surpassed her father in astrono- 
mical knowledge. Siiidas also mentions, with high 
commendation, two books written by her — one on the 
astronomical canon of Diophantus; the other, on the 
coni of Appollonius. By him it is likewise avenged, 
that she not only excelled her father in astronomy, but 
that she likewise understood all the other parts of phi- 
losophy. Her illustrious qualities, and singular talents, 
recommended her, on the death of her father, as his 
successor in the Platonic or Alexandrian school, in which 
a woman filled, with honour, the chair that had been 
occupied by Hamonius, Hierocles, and the most emi- 
nent scholars of the age; and this at a period, when Alex- 
andria, and other parts of the Roman empire, abounded 
with learned men. In this situation,'^ says Socrates^ 
" she explained to her hearers, the several sciences 
comprehended under the general name of philosophy; 
while disciples from all parts flocked to her lectures." 
It is said by Suidas, that she explained and illustrated 
to her auditors, with equal perspicuity and precision, 
the various tenets of every philosophical sect; each of 
which, he adds, had previously been considered as a 
sufficient province to exercise the diligence of any one 
man consummate in letters. The numerous disciples of 
Hypatia, who was emphatically termed the philosopher, 
were united to each other, and to their fair preceptress, in 
the strictest bonds of friendship and benevolence; they 
styled themselves companions or fellows, as was custom- 
ary at Athens, and other seminaries of learning. 



80 



HYPATIA. 



Among them may be mentioned Syneslus, a native of 
Cyrene, in Africa, on the borders of Egypt, to which 
having travelled, as to the fountain head of science, he 
enrolled himself among the disciples of Hypatia, in the 
Alexandrian school, where he made a rapid progress in 
every branch of learning and philosophy. The great 
talents, and universal knowledge of Syneslus, were ce- 
lebrated by the writers of his age^ particularly by Nice- 
phorus, Gregorus, patriarch of Constantinople, by SuU' 
das, Protius, and others. ^ 

Syneslus, afterwards consecrated bishop of Ptolemais, 
bore, on various occasions, a grateful testimony to the 
learning and virtues of Hypatia. " Salute," says he, 
in a letter to his brother, Euoptlus, the most honour- 
ed and the most beloved of God, the philosopher, and 
that happy fellowship which^njojs the blessings of her 
divine voice." In another letter, he speaks of Egyptus, 

who sucked in the seeds of wisdom from Hypatia." 
Also, in writing to Olympius, he thus expresses him- 
self: " I suppose these letters w^ill be delivered by Peter, 
which he will receive from that sacred hand. I sent 
them from Pantapolis, to our common instructress, and 
she will entrust them w^ith whom she thinks fit; which, 
I am sure, will be to one that is well knowm to her." In 
a letter addressed to Hypatia, he desires her to direct a, 
?ii/droscope, snch 3ls he describes, to be made and pur- 
chased for him. A celebrated silver astrolabe, presented 
by him to Peonlus, a man excelling, both in philosophy 
and arms, he declares to have been perfected by the di- 
rection of Hypatia. He also, in a long epistle, sent to 
his preceptress with two books, informs her of his rea- 
son for having written them. The one was a mystical 



HYPATIA. 81 

treatise on dreams; the other an ingenious apology for 
learning: on the latter he entreats her judgment, being 
resolved not to publish it but with her approbation. He 
likewise tells her, that she is the first one among the 
Greeks, or rather the heathens, to whom he has com- 
municated these productions. " To complete,^' says 
he, " the sacred number three, I shall add to these an 
account of the astrolabe presented to Peonius.'^ To 
the respect and gratitude of her disciples, and to the 
praise of learning and talents, Hypatia added the esteem 
of the public: the purity of her manners, and the dig- 
nified propriety of her conduct, commanded general 
reverence and regard. 

She was consulted by the magistrates in all cases of 
difficulty and importance, and her decisions were uni- 
formly observed. She frequented the societies of men, 
and lived in the midst of their schools and assemblies, 
with an unblemished reputation. The lustre of her 
talents and attainments was softened by the unassuming 
simplicity of her manners; and the fascinations of her 
personal attractions chastened by the purity of her 
conduct. Modest, but not timid; firm, without arrogance 
or hardness, she received unembarrassed, the honours 
and distinctions paid to her singular endowments. She 
was visited, admired, and caressed, by the governors, 
the nobles, and magistrates; by the learned, the inge- 
nious, and the curious. Her extraordinary attainments, 
amiable qualities, and personal beauty, procured her 
the addresses of the most eminent men of the age, who 
sought her in mamage; by some, it is said, that she be- 
came the wife of the philosopher Isidorus, but the truth 
ef this report appears uncertain: it is affirmed by Suidas^ 



HYPATIA. 



that she died unman'ied. The austerity of her manners 
among her disciples, suppressed in their birth, those 
emotions to which her beauty g-ave rise, and preserved 
her from the insinuations of passion. A true professor 
of the Platonic school held wisdom and virtue only to 
be beautiful, and the conquest of the passions the only 
meritorious fortitude : that corporal symmetry and love- ♦ 
liness, were but a faint transcript of the divine charm of 
mental excellence, was their favourite prmciple. By 
the refinements of her precepts, and the severity of her 
behaviour, the fair academician silenced the presumptu- 
ous wishes of those among her scholars, who had not I 
yet become adepts in the sublime doctrines of the \ 
founder of their sect. | 

While Hypatia thus flourished the brightest ornament 
of the schools, Orestes, under the emperor Theodosius, 
governed Alexandria, of which Cyril was bishop or pa- 
triarch. Orestes, whom his rank and education had 
qualified to judge of the admirable qualities of Hypatia, 
treated her with distinguished respect and attention; 
visiting her frequently, and dehghting in her conversa- 
tion. Cyril, who cherished against Orestes an inveterate 
hatred and jealousy, observed this intercourse with a 
malignant eye: he had been elevated to the patriarchal . 
throne by sedition and tumult, in opposition to Timothy, j 
an archdeacon of but little reputation: was of a turbu- I 
lent, ambitious, and intolerant temper, and had, by his 
usurpations on the civil authority, and prjdng scruthiy 
into tlie actions of the governor, incurred his suspicion 
and dislike. 

A sedition had been excited against Orestes by Hie- 
rax, a pedagogue, or schoolmaster, and implicit disciple 



HYPATIA. 



83 



and partlzan of Cyril, by whom he was encouraged and 
protected. Hierax afterwards appearing at the theatre, 
when the governor was present, the Jews accused him 
as a disturber of the public peace, and a sower of mis- 
chief. Cyril, in revenge, banished the Jews from the 
city, where, from the time of Alexander, they had, to 
the g-reat advantage of the state, lived undisturbed in 
opulence and prosperity. Orestes, incensed at the 
temerity of Cyril, and at the injury which the city was 
likely to sustain, laid the affair before the emperor. Cy- 
ril, conscious of the unpopularity of his conduct, the 
citizens taking part with the governor, began to be 
alamied, and made overtures towards a compromise and 
reconciliation. Orestes, aware of his character, received 
his advances with coldness; the enmity became more 
inveterate, and, in its consequences, prepared the way 
for a fatal catastrophe, of which Hypatia was the des- 
tined victim. Certain monks, residing in the Nitrian 
mountains, among which they possessed numerous mo- 
nasteries, flocked to the city, where, encountering the 
governor in his chariot, they reviled and abused him, 
using in their rage, among other epithets of reproach, 
those of sacrificer and heathen. Orestes, not doubting 
to whose agency he was indebted for this public out- 
rage, cried out that he was a Christian, and had been 
baptized by Atticus at Constantinople. Regardless of 
this attestation, the monks continued to insult him^ 
while Ammonius, one of the most furious, hurled at him 
a stone, which, wounding him on the head, covered 
him with blood. The guards, with a few exceptions, 
terrified at this violence, deserted their master, lest they 
should sliare his flite, and concealed themselves in the 



84 



HYPATIA . 



crowd. The citizens of Alexandria, with more loyalty 
and courage, rose in defence of their governor, and hav- 
ing seized Ammonias, put his companions to flight. 
The ringleader being dragged before Orestes, was, in 
conformity to the laws, sentenced to expire on the rack. 
The party of the governor, and that of the patriarch, 
laid before the emperor, on this occasion, their several 
complaints; while the latter, having received tlie body 
of Ammonius, deposited it in one of the churches, with 
a panegyric on his courage, and suiferings in the cause 
of truth; and, changing his name to Thaumasius, he or- 
dered him to be considered as a martyr. The more 
moderate among the Christians, convinced that Ammo- 
nius had but suffered his deserts, justly disapproved of 
the zeal of their patriarch, who, Orestes having escaped 
his vengeance, still thirsted for a victim. The favour 
of Hypatia with the governor, who took a pleasure in 
testifying his respect for her talents, rendered her ob- 
noxious to the rage and bigotry of his enemies, who ac- 
cused her of obstructing an accommodation between 
the civil and ecclesiastical powers. A conspiracy, head- 
ed by Peter, a lecturer, and a furious zealot, was there- 
fore formed against her. Laying in wait for her, they 
seized her on returning from a visit, dragged her from 
her chair, and, having hurried her to a church called 
Caesar's, barbarously stripped her, and murdered her 
with tiles; when, tearing her body in pieces, they con- 
sumed it to ashes in a place called Cinaron. This viola- 
tion of the laws of humanity, and homble mockery of 
religion, vi^as committed during the time of a solemn 
fast, and is attested by Socrates, Nicephorus, Suidas, 
Dumascius, and Hesychius, who add, that Cyril, a pre- 



KERALIO. 



85 



nder to letters, and emulous of fame, was jealous of 
le talents and reputation of Hypatia, whose destruction 
e had solemnly avowed. In the life of Isidorus, by Pho- 
us, it is related, that the patriarch, passing by the re- 
idence of the female philosopher, and observing an 
extraordinary concourse of persons who thronged her 
Joors, some appearing to be entering, and others com- 
ig from the house, inquired into the cause of this 
crowd, and was informed in reply, that this was the ha- 
bitation of the philosophical Hypatia, to whom the peo- 
ple flocked to testify their respect. The priest, seized 
with a pang of envy too poignant to be concealed, from 
that moment meditated her destruction. The emperor, 
when informed of the tragical fate of this incomparable 
woman, manifested great concern, and threatened the 
assassins with the just recompense of their crime; but, 
at the intreaties of his friends, whom Edesius had cor- 
rupted, was induced to suffer them to escape; by which 
means, it is added, he drew vengeance on himself and 
his family. The murder of Hypatia, whose name pos- 
terity has consecrated, was perpetrated in the fourth 
year of the episcopate of Cyril, (Honorius being the 
tenth, and Theodosius the sixth time, consuls,) during 
Lent, in the month of March, in the year 415. 



XERAIiZO. 

Madame de KEiiALio,a lady who possesses a consider- 
able share of literary reputation, is a native of Paris, in 
which city she was born in 1758. She has translated se- 
veral works from the Enghsh, among which are Swine- 
burne's Travels;" *«Carr's Tour," and " Dodsley's Fa- 

H 



86 



LAFITE — LAMBERT. 



bles." From the Italian she has given a version of 
Galuzzi's " History of the Grand Dutchy of Tuscany, 
under the Medici family." She is the author of a " His- 
tory of Queen Elizabeth" in five volumes; " Amehaand 
Caroline," in five volumes; Rose and Albert," three 
volumes; Alphonso and Matilda," four volumes; and 
" Adelaide," two volumes. She has also edited a col- 
lection of the best French works, composed by "Wo- 
men," fourteen volumes. 



Mary Elizabeth de Lafite, a learned French lady, 
was born at Paris in 1750, and died at London in the 
year 1794. She published " Reponses a Demeler ou 
Essai d'une Maniere d'exercer Tattention;" '* Entre- 
tiens, Drames, et Contes Moraux, a I'usage des Enfans," 
two volumes, dedicated to the queen of England, and 
several times reprinted. She also translated into French, 
some of the works of Wieland, Gellert, and Lavater. 



Z.iLMBX::ET. 

Axx Therese Lambert, a literary lady of consi- 
derable talent, was born at Paris in the year 1647; she 
was maiTied in her nineteenth year to Henri Lambert, 
Marquis de St. Bris. This union being afterwards dis- 
solved by the death of her husband, she employed the 
large fortune left her, in patronizing learning and learn- 
ed men, to v/hom her mansion was always accessible 
After her decease, her own writings were collected anc 



LENNOX. 



87 



published In two volumes; they consist principally of 
Avis d'une Mere a son Fils et a sa Fille;" " Traite de 

PAmitie;" "Nouvelles Reflexions sur les Femmes;" 
Sur la Vieillese;" " LaFemme Hermite," &c. These 

works are all marked by much taste, sense, and good 

feeling-. Madame Lambert died at Paris in 1733, at the 

advanced age of eighty-six. 



i:.££7X?OX. 

Chaiilotte Lennox, a lady long distinguished for her 
genius and literary merit, and highly respected by Dr. 
Johnson and Mr. Richardson, was born in the year 1720. 
Her father. Col. James Ramsay, was lieutenant-governor 
of New York, who sent her over, at the age of fifteen, 
to England, to an opulent aunt, there to be educated. 
Her father died soon after, and from that time she sup- 
ported herself by her literary talents, which she always 
employed usefully. 

She published in 1751, " The Memoirs of Harriet 
Stuaii:,'' and in 1752, The Female Quixotte." In the 
latter of these novels, the character of Arabella is the 
coimter part of Don Quixotte. Dr. Johnson wrote the 
dedication to the " Earl of Middlesex." In 1753, she 
published "Shakspeare illustrated." This work con- 
sists of the novels and histories on which the plays of 
Shakspeare are founded, collected and translated from 
the original authors; to which are added critical notes. 
In 1756, she published " The Memoirs of the Countess of 
Berci, taken from the French," two volumes; and Sul- 
ly's Memoirs*' translated, three volumes, 4to; which have 



88 



MACAULEY. 



since been frequently re-printed in five volumes Bvo., 
and are executed with no small ability. In 1757, she 
translated ** The Memoirs of Madame Maintenon." In 
1758, she produced " Philander," and " Henrietta;" the 
last a novel of considerable merit, in two volumes, 12mo.; 
and in 1760, with the assistance of the earl of Cork and 
Orrery, and Dr. Johnson, she published a translation of 
** Father Brumoy's Greek Theatre," three volumes, 4to. 
In 1761, she commenced the publication of the " Ladies 
Museum;" two years afterwards she published " Sophia," 
two volumes, 12mo. Her last performance, not inferior 
to any of her former in that species of composition, was 
" Euphemia," a novel, 1790, four volumes, 12mo. 

In 1775, Dr. Johnson assisted her in drawing up pro- 
posals for an edition of her works, in three volumes, 4to. ; 
but it does not appear to have been published. Dr. 
Johnson had such an opinion of Mrs. Lennox, that on 
one occasion, not long before his death, he went so far 
as to prenounce her talents as a writer, superior to Mrs. 
Carter, Miss Hannah More, and Miss Burney. She died 
January 4, 1804. 



MACAUZiznr. 

Catharine Macauley. This lady, who by her writ- 
ings and the powers of her mind, has reflected so much 
credit on her sex and country, was born in England, 
about the year 1733, at Olkntigh, in Kent, the seat of 
her father, John Sawbridge, Esq. During her infancy* 
her mother died, and she was left with an elder sister to 
be brought up by a governess, a person but ill qualified 
for the charge. 



MACAULEY. 



89 



tliidcr the superintendence of this woman, they g'rew 
together, while their minds and characters, as directed 
by other circumstances; took a different turn. The 
eldest daughter, whose temper was placid and amiable, 
while she improved in health and strength, derived 
amusement from her baby-house, and from the custom- 
ary avocations of her sex and age. But Catharine 
found nothing to interest her attention in her sister's pur- 
suits; active and cui'ious, she thirsted for knowledge, 
and her dolls could give her no information. The books 
which were put into her hands entertained her for a time, 
while they interested her imagination, and gratified' her 
taste for novelty: but at length she became satiated 
with fairy tales ancT romances, which afforded not ali- 
ment sufficiently substantial to satisfy the cravings of 
her inquiring mind. Having found her way into her 
father's well-furnished library, she became her owm pur- 
ve3^or, and rioted in intellectual luxury. Every hour in 
the day, which no longer hung heavy upon her hands, 
was now occupied and improved. She first made choice 
of the periodical writers, the Spectator, Rambler, Guar- 
dian, &c., who, in treating of morals and manners, led 
her to reflection, while they opened and strengthened 
her mind. As she advanced in age, her studies took a 
wider range: she grew attached to history, and dwelt 
with delight and ardour on the annals of the Greek and 
Roman republics. Their laws and manners interested 
her understanding, the spirit of patriotism seized her, 
and she became an enthusiast in the cause of freedom. 

The heroic cliaracters and actions with which this 
period of history is intermingled and enlivened, seldom 
fail to captivate the aliections of a youthful and uiicor- 
H 2 ' 



90 



MACAULEY. 



rupted heart. All other books were thrown aside; his- 
tory became her darUng passion, and hberty the idol of 
her imagination. RoUin's Ancient History, and his ac- 
count of the Roman republic, first lighted up that spark 
in her mind, which afterwards blazed with so much fer- 
vour and splendour, and which gave the tone to her 
sentiments and character through the subsequent pe- 
riods of her life. To a spirit thus excited, retirement, by 
concentrating its force, added strength: the world with 
its lax principles and vicious habits, had not yet broken 
in upon the gay mistakes of the just expanding heart, 
enamoured of truth and virtue, and ignorant of the diffi- 
culties which retard and obstruct their progress. 

Oh youth! the lovely source of generous errors! From 
early habits of seclusion, it became the choice of Catha- 
rine: ordinary amusements and occupations were tasteless 
to a spirit wrought to higher views and purposes: great 
delicacy, talents and sensibility, united in the female 
mind, rarely fail to inspire a distaste for common inter- 
course. From the world of frivolity, flattery, and dissi- 
pation, she shrunk back to a more improving world of 
her own. In the course of her historical studies, the 
pictures of vice and turpitude which occasionally pre- 
sented themselves, while they aroused her indignation, 
excited the astonishment of her inexperienced heart; 
the feelings of which were called forth, exercised and 
exalted. 

The history of the despotism and tyranny of a few in- 
dividuals, and the slavish subjection of uncouiated mil- 
lions, their passive acquiescence, their sufferings and 
their wrongs, appeared to her a moral problem, which 
she had no instruments to solve. She had yet to learn 



MACAULEY, 



91 



tiie force of prescription, of habit, and of association, 
the imitative and progressive nature of the human mind, 
and the complicated springs by which it is set in motion. 
She deeply reflected on the subject of government, 
with its influence on the happiness and virtue of man- 
kind: slie became anxious that the distance should be 
diminished that separates man from man; and to see 
extended over the whole human race those enlightened 
sentiments, equal laws, and equitable decisions, that 
might restore to its due proportion a balance so ill ad- 
justed, and combine with the refinement of a more ad- 
vanced age the simplicity and virtue of the earlier pe- 
riods. lYaught with these ideas, and with a heart 
glowing with good will towards her species, she took up 
her pen, and gave to the most interesting portion of the 
history of her country a new spirit and interest. 

A female historian, by its singularity, could not fail to 
excite attention; she seemed to have stepped out of the 
province of her sex; curiosity was sharpened, and ma- 
levolence provoked. The author was attacked by pet- 
ty and personal scurrilities, to which it was believed her 
sex would render her vulnerable. Her talents and 
powers could not be denied; her beauty was therefore 
called in question, as if it was at all concerned with the 
subject; or that, to instruct our understandings it was 
necessaiy at the same time to charm our senses. " She 
is deformed, (said her adversaries, wholly unacquainted 
with her person,) she is unfortunately ugly, she despairs 
of distinction and admiration as a woman, she seeks, 
therefore, to encroach on the province of man.'' 

These were the notions" said a lady, (Mrs. Arnold,) 
afterwards intimately connected with the historian, "that 



92 



MACAULEY. 



I was led to entertain of Mrs. Macauley, previous to my 
introduction to her acquaintance. Judge then of my 
surprise, when I saw a woman elegant in her manners, 
delicate in her person, and with features, if not perfectly 
beautiful, so fascinating in their expression, as deserv- 
edly to rank her face among the higher order of human 
countenances. Her height was above the middle size, 
inclining to tall; her shape slender and elegant; the 
contour of her face, neck, and shoulders, graceful. The 
form of her face was oval, her complexion delicate, and 
her skin fine; her hair was of a mild brown, long and 
profuse; her nose between the Roman and the Grecian; 
her mouth small, her chin round, as was tlie lower part 
of her face, which made it appear to more advantage in 
front than in profile. Her eyes were as beautiful as ima- 
gination can conceive; full of penetration and fire; but 
their fire softened by the mildest beams of benevolence; 
their colour was a fine dark hazel, and their expression 
the indication of a superior soul. Infirm health, too 
often the attendant on an active and hig-hly cultivated 
understanding, gave to her countenance an extreme de- 
licacj'', which was peculiarly interesting. To this de- 
licacy of constitution was added a most amiable sensibi- 
lity of temper, which rendered her feelingly alive to 
whatever concerned those with whom she was connect- 
ed either by nature or by friendship.'^ 

In her friendships, we are told by this lady, she was 
fervent, disinterested, and sincere; zealous for the pros- 
perity, and for the moral improvement, of those whom 
she distinguished and loved. She was earnest, con- 
stant, and eloquent in her efforts for rectifying the 
principles, and enlarging the minds of her friends and 



MACAULEY. 



93 



connexions. It was her favourite maxim, that universal 
benevolence, and a liberal way of thinking", were not only- 
essential to the freedom and welfare of society, but to 
individual virtue, enjoyment and happiness. 

In her twenty-seventh year, she was united to Dr. 
George Macauley, a physician of eminence and a man of 
worth. The sedentary life of Mrs. Macauley, united to 
a fondness for study, soon became injurious to her health, 
and, towards the latter end of the year 1777, her physi« 
cians thought the only chance there was of her recovery 
was the mild air of France. She accordingly set out for 
France, accompanied by Mrs. Arnold. On their arrival 
at Paris, she found her health so much improved, that in 
a few days, she collected around her, by her letters of 
introduction, an agreeable society. 

Persons of the first rank and eminence, were gratified 
with the opportunity of paying their respects to a wo- 
man whose talents entitle her to distinction. Among 
the number of her visiters were the family of the Count 
de Sarsfield; the dukes of Harcourt and Laincourt; the 
ChevaUer de Rigement; the Abbe Colbert; Madame 
Boccage; Lord Stormont, the English ambassador; Mar- 
TOontel and the widow of Helvetius. After having re- 
mained in Paris six weeks, and the object of her jour- 
ney had been accomplished, for her health and spirits 
were both restored, she returned to England, and en- 
gaged with fresh ardour in literary pursuits. Having 
been personally acquainted with the greater number of 
the celebrated Americans who had visited England, and in 
the habit of corresponding with most of them, Mrs. Ma- 
cauley was very desirous of making a visit to the United 
States; a design which she executed in 1785, She visited 



94 



MACAULEV-. 



nine of the thirteen states, by whom she was received 
with kindness and hospitaUty. She terminated her 
journey to the south, by paying her respects to General 
Washing-ton, at his seat at Mount Vernon. Under the 
roof of this illustrious man, she remained three weeks; 
and continued to correspond with him during the re- 
mainder of her hfe. 

It seemed to have been her intention, after her return 
to England, to have composed a history of the American 
contest; for which purpose she had been furnished by 
General Washington with many materials. It is to be 
regretted that thus qualified, she was, by the infirm 
state of her health for some years prior to her death, 
prevented from the execution of her plan. She resided 
during the greater part of the remainder of her life at 
Binfield, in Berkshire; where, after a tedious illness, at- 
tended by much suffering, she expired, June 22, 1791. 

Mrs. Macauley when in tolerable health, was accus- 
tomed to be in her library by six in the morning: she 
was tenacious of the value of time, and solicitous for its 
improvement. Mrs. Arnold in her account of the pri- 
vate character of this lady, says, "as a wife, a mother* 
a friend, neighbour, and the mistress of a family, she was 
irreproachable and exemplary. My sentiments of this 
amiable woman are derived from a long and intimate 
acquaintance with her various excellencies; and I have 
observed her in different points of view. I have seen 
her exalted on the dangerous pinnacle of worldly pros- 
perity, surrounded by flattering friends, and an admiring 
world; I have seen her marked out by party prejudice 
as an object of dislike and ridicule; I have seen her 
bowed down by bodily pain and weakness; but never 



MOKTAGL. 



95 



did I see her forget the urbanity of a gentlewoman, her 
conscious dignity as a rational creature, or a fervent as- 
piration after the highest degree of attainable perfection. 
I have seen her humble herself in the presence of her 
Almighty Father; and, with a contrite heart, acknow- 
ledging her sins and imploring his forgiveness; I have 
seen her languishing on the bed of sickness, enduring 
pain with the patience of a christian, and with the firm 
belief, that the light afflictions of this life are but for a 
moment, and that the fashion of the world will pass away, 
and give place to a system of dui-able happiness." 

Her works are — " The History of England, from the 
accession of James T. to that of the Brunswick line,^' 
nine volumes, 4to. **A treatise on the Immutability of 
Moral truth," one volume, 8vo. Letters on Education;" 
" Remarks on Hobbe's Rudiments of Government and 
Society;" "A modest Plea for the Property of Copy 
Right," one volume, 4to. ; ''Observations on Burke's 
Reflections on the French Revolution," &c. 



Mart Wobtlet Montagu, a lady of great wit and 
literary talents, eldest daughter of the duke of King- 
ston, was born at Thoresby, in Nottinghamshire, about 
the year 1690. The first dawn of her genius opened so 
auspiciously, that her father resolved to cultivate the 
advantages of nature, by a sedulous attention to her 
early instruction. Under his superintendence, she ac- 
quired a knowledge of the Greek, Latin, French, and 
Italian languages. Her studies were afterwards super- 



MOKTAGU. 



intended by bishop Burnet, who fostered her superior 
talents with every expression of dignified praise. Her 
translation of the Enchiridion of Epictetus received his 
emendations. For so complete an improvement of her 
mind, she was much indebted to uninterrupted leisure, 
and recluse habits of life. In 1712, she was married to 
Edward Wortley Montagu, Esq., a gentleman of bril- 
liant acquirements. He afterwards became a lord of 
the board of treasury, which circumstance introduced 
him to the court of George tlie First, and occasioned 
lady Mary to quit her retirement at WarnclifFe. Her 
first appearance at St. James* w^as hailed with that uni- 
versal admiration, which beauty, enlivened by wit,^ 
incontestibly claims; and while the tribute of praise, so 
well merited, was wilHngly paid in public to the ele- 
gance of her form, the charms of her conversation were 
equally unrivalled in the first private circles of the no- 
bility. She was in habits of familiar acquaintance with 
Addison and Pope, who contemplated her uncommon 
genius, at that time, without envy. But in the versati- 
lity attached to human nature, Mr. Pope afterwards 
treated her with insolence and contempt. In the year 
1716, he was appointed ambassador to Constantinople, 
Early in August, he set out upon his journey to that 
city, accompanied by lady Mary. Whilst on her jour- 
ney, and residing in the Levant, she amused herself and 
dehghted her friends, by a regular correspondence,, 
chiefly directed to her sister, the countess of Mar, de* 
scribing the manners and customs of the Turkish court; 
and the elegance of her language, the sprightliness of 
her observations, and the justice of her descriptions, 
have been universally admired. When she arrived at 



Constantinople, her active mind was readily engaged in 
the pursuit of objects so novel as those which the Turk- 
ish capital presented. Whilst they excited her ima- 
gination, she could satisfy her curiosity in her ideas of 
.its former splendour as the metropolis of the Roman 
empire. Her classical acquirements rendered such in° 
vestigations Interesting and successful. Among her 
other talents, was an extraordinary facility in learning 
languages, that, in a very short time, she acquired a 
knowledge of the Turkish dialect. Among other 
things, she examined with philosophical curiosity, 
the mode practised by the Turks of inoculating for tlie 
small pox, which she afterwards introduced into Eng- 
land, and which, in itself, is sufficient to immortalize her 
name. In 1718, she returned to England, but the ill 
state of her health in a few years after, obliged her to 
return to the continent, and she took up her residence 
at Venice. Her summer residence she fixed at Lou- 
verre, on the shores of the lake of Isco. Here she spent 
the greater part of her time, and applied herself to the 
business of a country life, in the superintendence of her 
vineyards and silk-worms. Books supplied the defi- 
ciency of society. Her letters from this retreat breathe 
a truly philosophic spirit, and evince that her care of 
her daughter and her family, was ever nearest to her 
heart. No one appears to have enjoyed her repose 
more sincerely, from the occupations of the gay > world. 
Her visits to Genoa and Padua were not unfrequent; but^, 
about the year 1758, she quitted her solitude, and set- 
tled entirely at Venice, where she remained till the 
death of Mr. Wortley, in 1761. She then yielded to the 
solicitations of her daughter, and returned to England > 



98 



MONTAGU. 



From this period her health rapidly declined, and she 
expired on the 21st of August, 1762, in the seventy- 
third year of her age. In the cathedral at Litchfield, a 
cenotaph is erected to her memory, with the followijig" 
inscription: 

Sacred to the memory of 
The night Honourable 
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 
who happily introduced from Turkey, 
into this country, 
the salutary art 
of inoculating the Small Pox. 

Convinced of its efficacy, 
she first tried it with success 
on her own children, 
and then recommended the practice of it 
to her fellow citizens. , 
Thus by her example and advice, 
we have softened the virulence, 
and escaped the danger ofthismahgnant disease. 
To perpetuate the memory of such benevolence, 
and to express her gi'atitude 
for the benefit she herself received 
from this alleviating art; 
This monument is erected by 
Henrietta Inge. 
1789. 

The sera in which Lady Mary Wortley Montagu flou- 
rished, has been often designated the " Augustan in 
England;" and in the constellation of wit by which it 



MONTAGUE. 



99 



was illuminated, and so honourably distinguished from 
earlier or successive ages, her acquirements and genius 
entitled her to a very eminent place. During her long 
life, her literary pretensions were suppressed by the 
jealousy of her contemporaries, and her indignant sense 
of the mean conduct of Pope and his phalanx, the self- 
constituted distributors of the fame and obloquy of that 
day, urged her to confine to her cabinet and a small 
circle of friends, effusions of wisdom and fancy, which 
otherwise had been received by society at large, with 
equal instruction and delight. Her letters present us 
with a faithful portrait of her mind. The delicacy of her 
style in early youth, corresponded with the soft and in- 
teresting beauty which she possessed. In the perspi- 
cuity and sprightliness, which charm and instruct us in 
the zenith of her days, we have an image of confirmed 
and commanding grace. As she advanced to a certain 
degree of longevity, the same mind, vigorous and re- 
plete with the stores of experience, both in life and 
literature, maintains its original powers. The " Mel- 
low hangings" have more of richness and greater strength 
if less of brilliancy; and the later writings of Lady Mary, 
bear that peculiar characteristic, while they offer the 
precepts of a female sage, which lose all their severity in 
the eloquence peculiar to her sex. Her works are com- 
prised in five volumes octavo. 



Elizabeth Montague, a lady of distinguished literary 
talents, was the daughter of Matthew Robinson, Esq., 



Lof C. 



100 



MONTAGUEe 



and was born at her father's seat at Herton, England, in- 
the year 1720. Having had the misfortune to lose her 
parents at an early period, she was placed under the 
oare of Dr. Conyers Middletony to whom she was nearly 
aUied; and, to the attention of that learned gentleman 
is, in a great measure, to be ascribe^^ the shining figure 
which she made in the literary world. 

In her early education, however, she did not receive 
those strong impressions of the truth of divine revela- 
tion, which she acquired at a later period, from her inti- 
macy with Gilbert West and lord Lyttleton. It was re- 
served for the influence of the steady principles of 
Christianity, to correct tlie exuberant spirit of her ge- 
nius, and to give the last touches of improvement to her 
character. 

In the year 1742, she was married to Edward Mon- 
tague, Esq. By his connexions and her own, she ob- 
tained an extensive range of acquaintance, but selected 
as her especial friends, persons distinguished for taste 
and talents. She died August 25,. 1800, at the advanced 
age of eighty years. Mrs. Montague early distinguished 
herself as an author; first by " Three Dialogues of the 
Dead," pubhshed along with lord Lyttleton's; after- 
wards by her classical and elegant Essay on the Ge- 
nius and Writings of Shakspeare,'* in which she amply 
vindicates that great poet from the gross, illiberal, and 
ignorant abuse, thrown out against him by Yoltaire. 

Many years after she had received the approbation of 
all persons of critical taste on this performance, it fell 
into the hands of Cowper, the poet, who, on reading it, 
says to his correspondent, " I no longer wonder that 
Mrs. Montague stands at the head of all that is called 




/ / / 



MORE. 



lot 



learned, and that every critic veils his bonnet to her 
superior judgment: — The leaming*, the good sense, 
the sound judgment, and the wit displayed in it fully 
justify, not only my compliment, but all comphments 
that either have been paid to her talents, or shall be 
paid hereafter." 

Her house for many years was open to the literary 
world. She had lived at the table of the second lord 
Oxford, the resort of Pope, and his contemporaries; she 
was the intimate friend of Pultney and Lyttleton: and 
she survived to entertain Johnson and Goldsmith, and 
Burke and Reynolds, till their respective deaths. Dr. 
Beattie was frequently her inmate, and for many years 
her correspondent; and Mrs. Carter was, from their youth, 
her intimate friend, correspondent, and visiter. For 
the most learned of these, she was a suitable correspond- 
ent and companion, as is evident from her letters, and 
was acknowledged by all who heard her conversation. 
Notwithstanding her high attainments in literature, 
benevolence was the most striking feature in this lady's 
character. She was the rewarder of merit, and the re- 
liever of distress: and the poor always found her a 
liberal benefactress. 

Since her death, four volumes of her epistolary cor- 
respondence have been published, from which the read- 
er may form a just idea of her genius and character. 



Hannah More, a lady who has, for a length of time> 
held a conspicuous place in the literary world, is the 
2 I 



]0£ MORE. 

youngest of five daughters of a clergyman, who resided 
near Bristolj England, and who was disthiguished for 
his classical knowledge and goodness of heart. At an 
early period, the subject of this sketch, discovered a 
taste for literature, which she cultivated during her 
leisure hours. Having read through all the works in 
her paternal library, she put in requisition, the books of 
her village friends. During this period her sisters con- 
ducted a small school, in which thev acquitted them- 
selves so well, that, at the solicitation of several ladies 
of fortune and discernment, they were induced to re- 
move to Bristol, and open a boarding-school, which af- 
terwards became one of the most celebrated in England. 
Miss H. More accompanied her sisters, and assisted them 
in their laudable employ, where she acquired the friend- 
ship of the Rev. Dr. Stonehouse, who not only en- 
couraged, but improved her literary taste. Her first 
work, The Search after Happiness," appeared in 
1779, was favourably received, and induced her to pub- 
lish « Sir Eldred of the Bower," ''The Bleeding Rock," 
and a tragedy, called " The Inflexible Captive," found- 
ed on the story of Regains. By Dr. Stonehouse's kind- 
ness, she was introduced to Mr. Garrick, who advised 
her to write for the stage. In consequence of her ac- 
quaintance with the inimitable actor, she wrote 
*' Percy," a tragedy, which was well received, and esta- 
blished her fame as a dramatic vvriter. Her thoughts, 
however, soon took a more serious turn; and in 1782, 
she published " Sacred Dramas," and took the oppor- 
tunity to declare, that she did not think the stage, in its 
present state, becoming the countenance of a Christian, 
and she renounced all dramatic attempts, except as 



MORE. 



103 



)ems. In 1786, she published " Florlo/' a tale, and 
i(} "Basbleu, or Conversation/' two poems; "Thoughts 
on the . Manners of the Great" was pubhslied in the same 
year anonymously, and was for some time assigned to 
Mr. Wilberforce,-Dr. Porteous, and others. This was 
soon followed by ** Estimate of the Religion of the Fash- 
ionable World," which excited much attention. About 
this period she formed a society for instructing the poor 
in the duties of the Christian religion, and devoted much 
of her time to this charitable object. I'he Sunday 
schools, likewise, owe much of their success to her pen 
and indefatigable exertions. In short, whether we view 
her as a public or a private character, goodness of heart 
seems to be blended with comprehensive powers of 
mind. This excellent woman has long been confined 
to her chamber by a distressing malady, but still employs 
her pen when free from pain, in \vriting for the press. 
In this state, she has produced some of her best per- 
formances, among which are Hints towards forming 
the Character of a young Princess;" *' Coelebs in Search 
of a \yife," which appeared in 1809, and was so much 
admired, that it ran through ten editions in one year. 
« Practical Piety," in 1811 ; Christian Morals," in 1812; 
" Essay on the Character and Writings of St. Paul," in 
1815; " Moral Sketches," in 1819. Her works have 
been published in this covmtry in nine volumes, 12mo., 
and in twelve volumes, 18mo. 



104 



Lady Morgan, long known in the literary world by 
the name of Miss Owenson, is the daughter of Mr. Owen- 
son, of the Theatre Royal, Dublin. Under her maiden 
name she published " St. Clair, or Heiress of Desmond;" 
" The Novice of St. Dominic;" The Wild Irish Girl;'' 
" The Lay of an Irish harp, or metrical Fragments;" 
" Patriotic Sketches of Ii-eland;" " Woman, or Ida of 
Athens." Since her marriage with Dr. Morgan she has 
published "The Missionary;" "O'Donnel, a National 
Tale," and " Florence^Macarthy, an Irish Tale." It is, 
however, by means of two other works of a different de- 
scription that she has increased her fame as a writer. 
The first of these entitled France," is by far the best 
account which has yet appeared on the modern state of 
that country: the other "Italy," both of which have 
been re-published in this country and have had an ex- 
tensive circulation. Her political opinions have occa- 
sioned her to experience several illiberal attacks from 
a certain class of critics, but she has replied in a man- 
ner which prevents the aggressors from having any rea- 
son to triumph in the result of their hostility. 



Harriet Newell. This pious, excellent, and de- 
vout lady, was the daughter of Moses Atwood, of 
Haverhill, Massachusetts, and was born October 10th, 
1793. She was naturally cheerful and unreserved; pos- 



NEWELL. ^^^^ 



sessed a lively imagination and great sensibuity; and, at 
a very early age, discovered a retentive memory, and a 
taste for reading. Before the age of thirteen, ^.ere^ 
ceivedno particular or lasting impressions of rehgion, 
but was umformly obedient, attentive, and affectionate 
In the summer of 1806, she was roused to attend to th. 
one thing needful; to turn her eyes from beholdmg 
vanitv; and to prepare for that important change which^^ 
in her, was so soon to take place. At a school at ^.^d. 
ford, she was the subject of those solid and s^^rl^us im- 
preiions, which laid the foundation of h^: christian 
life. From that time she employed herself assiduously, 
and with e.irnestness, in the promotion of her Redeem- 
er's cause; .and by her conduct and advice, -became an 
honourable ail J truly valuable member of society. The 
uniform piety atK^l seriousness of her mind,, is forcibly 
displayed in her K tters to her Young Friends,, and m 
her Diary. She consonantly lived near to Go^V ^.^^^ 
joyed daily communion with him. 

Called at an early age to reflect on her lost condition, 
she accepted of the terms of salvation, and justification 
with God, through the merits of lier Redeemer. Eye» 
ry opportunity of glorifying and honouring him, she 
embraced, not merety as a duty^ but as the greatest plea- 
sure of her happy and virtuous life. Her health was 
delicate, but she bore indisposition with that calmness, 
and submission to the dictates of Providence, which al- 
ways signalized her character. She complained much 
of want of humility, and lamented lier deficiency in that 
christian grace: she longed for that meek and lowly 
spirit, which Jesus exhibited in the days of his flesh. 

U\e year 1808, Miss Atwood lost her pious and affec- 



106 



NEWELL. 



tionate father, which was her greatest worldly trial. 
She greatly deplored his death, and expressed her un- 
affected sorrow? but she acknowledges, in her diary, 
receiving that divine consolation which assured her, that 
though she was fatherless, she would never be friendless; 
she relied upon Him, who promised to be the father of 
the fatherless, and the husband of the widow. 

On the irth of April, 1811, she received an offer from 
Mr. Newell, to spend the remainder of her life in pro- 
moting the spread of Christianity among her heathen 
and unenlightened fellow creatures. She hesitated as 
to the step she should take, considering the subject the 
most weighty and important of her life: but, after ma- 
ture deliberation, and earnest and self-examination, and 
with the consent of her only surviving parent, she ac- 
cepted the offer of this amiable and pious young man; 
and she was enabled to say, " Here I am. Lord ! send me 
to distant Indian shores, if it be for thy glory." She had 
often longed to make a female Indian acquainted with 
the way of life, and she willingly engaged to leave he 
dearest friends, to carry the glad tidings of salvation to 
heathen lands; crossed the tempestuous ocean, to spend 
a self-denying active life, in an attempt to lead the wan- 
derers of Hindostan to that Jesus whom she had found 
to be her friend in every trial, and her support in every 
tribulation. 

On the 19th of February, after having been united by 
ties the most endearing and tender, to her friend Mr. 
Newell, she, with him, left her native land, for climes 
barbarous and uncivilized. They embarked, and sailed 
agreeably, till the 24th of February, when the vessel 
sprung a leak, and they were in the greatest danger of 



KEAVELL. 



sinking during the night; but, providentially, the leak was 
discovered, and prevented from doing any further injury. 
During that time she felt an entire confidence in God. 
Her letters written during her passage, prove the entire 
resignation she felt in devoting her future life to the 
best of causes; and the heavenly composure of her mind 
while sailing over the atlantic. After a tedious voyage 
of four months at sea, they arrived at Sarampore, and 
after remaining there a short time, they sailed for Cal- 
cutta, where they arrived on the 27th of June. At that 
place they encountered many trials, particularly that 
of being ordered by government to leave the British 
territories. Although not discouraged, she was grieved 
that there was a probability of their departure, being the 
instrument of discouraging all the attempts of American 
christians to present to those nations the word of life. 
They, however, obtained liberty to embark for the Isle 
of France, and for which place they sailed, on the 15th 
of August, and arrived at Port Louis on the 5th of Sep- 
tember, 1812. Four days before the arrival of the ves- 
sel in port, she was seized with severe pains in her 
bowels, the disease of the country, of which she reco- 
vered, and continued quite well till about three weeks 
before they reached the island, when she became the 
mother of a daughter. Four days afterwards, in conse- 
quence of cold, she was called to resign her lovely 
charge, which she did with pious resignation. But Pro- 
vidence very soon destined the mother to follow the 
babe. 

About a week afterwards, she was seized with that 
disorder v/hich terminated in death; and on Monday, 
the oOth of November, she calmly, and with apparent 



108 



OPIE. 



ease, expired, seven weeks and four days after her con* 
finement. Such was the hfe of Mrs. Harriet Newell, 
who, at the age of twenty, meekly } i elded to the will of 
her heavenly Father, without one murmuring' word. 
Young, lovely, and amiable, she entered the valley of 
death, fully prepared to answer at the tribunal of her 
Maker. Her life was short, but it was the life of a Chris- 
tian; and, had it been continued, she would, doubtless, 
have resembled a light set upon a hill. 

But the ways of Providence are as wise as they are in- 
scrutable; and she, who hoped to explore the cabins of 
human ignorance and wretchedness, and to breathe out 
her prayers in the hovels of untutored Indians, was un- 
expectedly summoned to receive the rewards and en 
joy the felicities of heaven. Piety is ever pleasing; but 
when it is united with intelligence, virtue, and purity 
in the female character, its beauty is as attmctive, as itt 
worth is beyond calculation. Her letters and journal 
have been published since her death in one volume^ 
18mo.,to which is prefixed Memoirs of her life. 



Mrs. Opie, an Ingenious and elegant writer, was born 
in the year 1771, and was the daughter of Dr. Alderson, 
a distinguished physician of Norwich, England. At an 
early age, she evinced talents of a superior order, and 
composed poems and novels at an age when >*oung la- 
dies have not finished their education. But none of her 
productions, except some poetical pieces in the Monthly 
Magazine^ were pubhslied before her marriage, w^hicli 



PAKINGTON. 



109 



took place in May, 1798, when she espoused Mr. Opie, 
a celebrated portrait painter. In 1801, she published 
*' The Father and Daughter," with other pieces. In 
1802, a "volume of Poems;" in 1804, " Adeline Mow- 
bray, or the Mother and Daughter," three volumes; in 
1806, " Simple Tales," four volumes; in 1808, "Dangers 
of Coquetry," two volumes; and " Warrior's Keturn, 
and other poems," two vols. The same year, having 
had the misfortune to lose her husband, she published 
in the next, his lectures read at the royal academy, to 
which she prefixed a memoir of his life, &c. Her late 
publications are "Temper, or Domestic Scenes," a no- 
vel, three volumes; " Tales of Real Life," three vols. 



DoROTHx Pakixgtois", a learned and pious lady of the 
seventeenth centmy, received one of those learned edu- 
cations, which was not uncommon at that time to give 
to females of rank. As a writer, she is entitled to gene- 
ral approbation. Her theological works are entirely or- 
thodox, and appear to have been dictated by a heart 
warmed with devotion, and inspired by a perfect confi- 
dence in the mediation of Christ. She published " The 
Whole Duty of Man;" "The Gentleman's Calling;" 
" The Ladies' Calling;" " The Government of the 
Tongue;" " The Art of Contentment;" "The Chris- 
tian's Birth-right;" and " The Causes of the Decay of 
Christian Piety." She had, some time before her death, 
been engaged in a work entitled The Government of 
the Thoughts," which was mentioned by Dr. Fell in 



no 



PARR. 



high terms, but never finished. The followimg eulogium 
by Dr. Fell, is all that we have left on record of the cha- 
racter of this amiable woman. She was wise, humble, 
temperate, chaste, patient, charitable, and devout; she 
lived a whole age of great austerities, and maintained in 
the midst of them, an undisturbed serenity.'' She died 
on the 10th of May, 1679. It is unnecessary to make 
further remarks upon her character, for, if virtue is al- 
lowed to be its own reward, she must have enjoyed the 
satisfaction which is attached to conscious rectitude, and 
met the king of terrors without fear or dismay. 



Catharine Parh, sixth and last wife of Henry VIII., 
was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendall, 
and was, at an early age, distinguished for her learning 
and good sense. She was first married to John Neville, 
lord Latimer, and after his death attracted the notice 
and admiration of king Henry VIII., whose queen she 
became in 1643. Her zealous encouragement of the 
reformation, excited the anger and jealousy of Gar- 
diner, bishop of Winchester, the chancellor, Wriothes- 
ley, and others of the popish faction, who conspired to 
ruin her with the king. Taking advantage of one of 
his moments of irritation, ^hey accused her of heresy 
and treason, and prevailed upon the king to sign a war- 
rant for her committal to the Tower. This being acci- 
dentally discovered to her, she repaired to the king, 
who purposely turned the conv ersation to religious sub- 



PARR. 



Ill 



jects, and began to sound her opinions. Aware of his 
purpose, she humbly rephed, That on such topics, she 
always, as became her sex and station, referred herself 
to the wisdom of his majesty, as he, under God, was her 
only supreme head and governor here on earth." " Not 
so, by St. Mary, Kate," replied Henry, *^you are, as we 
take it, become a doctor, to instruct, and not to be in- 
structed by us." She judiciously replied, " that she 
only objected in order to be benefited by his superior 
learning and knowledge." **Is it so, sweetheart," said 
the king; " and tended your arguments to no worse 
end? Then are we perfect friends again." On the day 
appointed for sending her to the Tower, while walking 
in the garden, and conversing pleasantly together, the 
chancellor, who was ignorant of the reconciliation, ad- 
vanced with the guards. The king drew him aside, and 
after some conversation, exclaimed in a rage, "Knave^ 
aye, arrant knave, a fool and beast." Catharine, igno- 
rant of his errand, entreated his pardon for her sake. " Ah ! 
poor soul!" said Henry, ''thou little knowest how ill 
he deserves this at thy hand; on my word, sweetheart, 
he hath been towards thee an arrant knave, so let him 
go." Thus remarkably did Divine Providence defend her 
from the snares and malice of her enemies, which being 
over, she passed safely through the remainder of this tem- 
pestuous reign. This dreadful alarm served to awaken all 
the faculties of her soul, and to put her upon the employ- 
ment of her thoughts in pious meditations and prayer, 
and upon making due preparation for eternity. From 
this period she was very strict in the observance of reli- 
gious duties, and sat about to draw up psalms, prayers, 
^iiid pious discourses, which she had afterwards publiih- 



11£ 



PARR. 



ed. The number as well as piety of these compositionSj 
sufficiently show how much of her time and thoughts, 
amidst all the business and ceremonies of her exalted 
station, were employed in order to secure her everlast- 
ing happiness, and sow the seeds of piety and virtue in 
the minds of her people. Her great zeal for the refor- 
mation, and earnest desire to have the scriptures under- 
stood by the common people, induced her to employ 
persons to translate into English the paraphrase of Eras- 
mus on the New Testament, and the gospel of St. John> 
copies of which she afterwards distributed among her 
subjects. On the death of the king, she espoused lord 
admiral Sir Thomas Seymour, uncle to Edward VI., 
but these nuptials proved unhappy, and involved her 
in troubles and difficulties. She died in child-bed in 
1548, not without suspicion of poison. Among her 
papers after her death, was found a composition, enti- 
tled Queen Catharine Parr^s Lamentations of a Sinner, 
bewailing the Ignorance of her blind Life." It was af- 
terwards published in 1548, with a preface by the great 
lord Burleigh. In her life time, she published a volume 
of " Prayers or Meditations, wherein the mind is stu'- 
red patiently to suffer all afflictions here, and to set at 
nought the vaine prosperitie of this worlde, and also to 
long for the everlasting felicitee.'' Many of her letters 
are preserved in Strype's Annals," Ashmolean Col- 
lection," and in the library of the 0. C. C. Cambridge. 



115 



Hester Ltnch Piozzi, distinguished for her literary 
acquirements, and better known by the name of Thraie, 
was the daughter of John Salisbury, Esq. She was 
born in the year 1^40, and received a classical educa- 
tion, under the superintendence of the late learned Dr. 
Colly er. Of her early years but little information has 
been transmitted; they must, however, have passed in 
seclusion and study, or she could never have acquired 
that variety of knowledge, and that general acquaint- 
ance with literature, even in its most abstract and diffi- 
cult branches, which she so soon began to display; for, 
besides an acquaintance with the Greek and Latin, she 
was critically versed in the Hebrew language. In her 
twenty-fourth year, she married Mr. Thraie, whose ac- 
quaintance with Dr. Johnson soon procured her the fa- 
vour and esteem of that profound scholar. Even after 
the death of Mr. Thraie, an epistolary intercourse of a 
very cordial description, was kept alive with that cele- 
brated man, until her second marriage with Signor Pi- 
ozzi, a native of Florence, when an expostulation on 
the part of the doctor, implying his disapprobation of 
this step, seems altogether to have dissolved their friend- 
ship. In September, 1784, she set out with her hus- 
band on a continental tour, and visited most of the cele- 
brated capitals in their route to Florence. Here they 
resided for some months, which they afterwards left, 
and took up their residence at Rome. From Rome 
they proceeded to Naples, and inspected all that was 
K 2 



114 



mozti. 



worthy of notice. They then returned to Rome, and 
on their way back to Eng-land, visited those cities which 
they had not visited before. A short time after her re- 
turn, she published an account of her travels, in two 
volumes, octavo. About ten years after this publica- 
tion, she put forth a work, entitled, British Synonymy, 
or an Attempt at Regulatin,^ the Choice of Words in 
familiar Conversation," two volumes, octavo, of which 
Mr. Gifford has, in his Baviad and Mseviad, spoken with 
remarkable severity. This was followed by " Anecdotes 
of Dr, Johnson;" and two years afterwards, a work en- 
titled " Letters from and to Dr. Johnson," two volumes, 
octavo; a pleasing and interesting publication. For the 
last fifteen years of her life, she resided at Clifton, near 
Bath. During this period, domestic employments and lite- 
rary pursuits, filled up her time. The vivacity of her mind 
was a never failing source of pleasure to all who had the 
good fortune to enjoy her society, while the brilliancy 
of her wit, tempered by invariable good humour, and 
general benevolence, delighted all who approached 
her. She died at Clifton, after a very short illness, in 
her eighty-third year. Her fine mental faculties re- 
mained wholly unimpaired to the last. Besides the 
foregoing works, she published " Retrospection, or a 
review of the most striking and important events, cha- 
racters, situations, and their consequences, which the 
last 1800 years have presented to the view of mankind," 
two volumes, quarto; " The Three Warnings," he. 



PLUMPTRE PLUNKETT. 



115 



Annabella Plumptre, niece of the Rev. Dr. 
Plumptre, late president of Queen's Colleg-e, Cam- 
bridge, is one of those females, who, within the present 
centur}^, has contributed so much by her writings, to the 
delight and instruction of the present generation. She 
has published The Mountain Cottage," a tale; " The 
Foresters," a drama; Domestic Stories from various 
Authors;" " The Guardian Angel," a tale, translated 
from the German of Kotzebue. Montgomery, or Scenes 
in Wales," two volumes; " Stories for Children," &c. 



Mrs. Plu]s-kett, whose maiden name was Gunning', 
has acquired considerable celebrity as an ingenious no- 
vel writer. She has published " The Packet," 4 vols.; 
** Lord Fitzhenry," 3 vols.; The Orphans of Snow- 
den," 3 vols.; The Gipsy Countess," 4 vols.; The 
Exiles of Erin," 3 vols.; Dangers through Life," 3 
vols. ; " The Farmer's Boy," 4 vols.; " Malvina," 3 vols.; 
"Family Stories for Young Persons," 2 vols.; "The 
Village Library for the Use of Young Persons," 3 vols.; 
and " Memoirs of a Man of Fashion." 



116 



P O KV E R P O B T F: R . 



Jane Porter, a powerful and elegant writer, is the 
eldest sister of Sir Robert Porter, a gentleman distin- 
guished for his talents as an artist and an author. At an 
early age, Miss Porter exhibited powers of no ordinary 
kind, and made large contributions to the periodical 
publications of the day. The first work of any mag- 
nitude which came from her pen was " The Spirit of 
the Elbe," in three volumes. Though this novel had 
considerable merit, it was out done by her next effort, 
which appeared in 1803, with the title of " Thad- 
deus of Warsaw,'' four volumes. This was followed by 
" The Scottish Chiefs," a romance, in five volumes, 
which was also successful. Between the publication of 
these works, however, she pubUshed two volumes of 
" Aphorisms of Sir Philip Sidney, with Remarks." Miss 
Porter has indeed caught much of the spirit of the hero 
whose character she so highly admires. Hence the 
lofty and magnanimous style of thinking and feeling, 
which distinguishes her works, all of which are calcu- 
lated to improve the heart, while they elevate the 
mind. 



Anka Maria Porter is the youngest of this family 
so remarkable for their literary attainments, and is the 
rival of her sister Jane, as a writer of novels, Wlien 



RADCLIFFK. 



117 



only thirteen years of age, she published " Artless 
Tales," two volumes; which was quickly succeeded by 
" Walsh Colville," in one volume. She has since pub- 
lished ** Octavia," three volumes; ** The Lake of Killar- 
ney, three volumes; " A Sailor's Friendship, and a Sol- 
dier's Love," two volumes; " The Hungarian Brothers," 
three volumes; ** Don Sebastian, or the House of Bra- 
ganza," four volumes; The Recluse of Norway," four 
volumes; *' The Village of Mariendorpt," four volumes; 
** The Fast of St. Magdalen," three volumes; " Honor 
O'Hara," two volumes, &c. 



Ann Radcliffe. Among the eminent women who have 
contributed by their talents to the intellectual character 
of their country, the name of this lady will always stand 
highly distinguished. She was born in London on the 
9th of July 1764, and was the only child of William and 
Ann Ward, persons of great respectability. At an early 
age she exhibited extraordinary powers of mind, but 
the peculiar bent of her genius was not developed until 
after her marriage. In the twenty-third year of her age 
she mxarried Mr. William Kadcliffe, a student of law, but 
who afterwards became the proprietor and editor of " the 
English Chronicle." Thus connected in a manner 
which must have induced her to cherish her literary 
powers, after a lapse of two years, she came before the 
public as author of a work entitled, the " Castles of Jith- 
iln and Dunbayne." This romance was quickly followed 
by the " Sicilian Eomancc,'' which for a time attracted 



118 



RADCLIFFE. 



no ordinary degree of attention, and displays the exube- 
rance and fertility of imagination, which was the author's 
principal characteristic. The Romance of the Forest 
appeared in 1791; The Mysteries of Udolpho in 1794, 
and the Italian in 1797. It is pleasing to trace the de- 
velop ement of her resources, and her gradual acquisition 
of mastery over them in these productions. The first 
with a goodly number of old towers, dungeon keeps, 
subterraneous passages, and hair-breadth escapes, has 
little of reality, or life; as if the author had caught a 
glimpse of the regions of romance from afar, and formed 
a sort of dreamy acquaintance with its recesses and 
glooms. In her next, the Sicilian Romance^ she seems 
to obtain a bird's eye view of all the surface of that de- 
lightful region — she places its winding vales and deli- 
cious bowers and summer seats, before the eye of the 
mind — but is as yet unable to introduce the reader indi- 
vidually into the midst of the scene, to surround him 
with its luxurious air, and compel liim to shudder at its 
terrors. In the Romance of the Fm^est, she approaches 
and takes up her very residence in the pleasant borders 
of the enchanted land; the sphere she chooses is small, 
and the persons limited; but here she exercises clear 
dominion, and realizes every thing to the fancy. The 
Mysteries of Udolpho is the work of one, who has en- 
tered and possessed a mighty portion of that enchanted 
land; who is familiar with its massive towers and solemn 
glooms; and who presents its objects of beauty, or hor- 
ror through a certain haze, which sometimes magnifies, 
and sometimes veils their true proportions. In the Ita- 
lian she occupies a less space; but, shining in golden 
light, her figures have the distinctness of terrible pic- 



RADCLIFFE. 



119 



tures; and her scenes, though perhaps less astounding-, 
in the aggregate, are singly more thrilling and vivid. 
This splendid series of fictions became immediately 
popular with the numerous class of readers who seek 
principally for amusement, and soon attracted the atten- 
tion of the finer spirits of the age. Dr. Warton, Mr. 
Sheridan and Mr. Fox spoke in terms of the highest 
eulogy. The author of the Pursuits of Literature de- 
scribes her as The mighty magician, bred and nourish- 
ed by the Florentine muses, in their sacred solitary 
caverns, amid the paler shrines of Gothic superstition, 
and in all the dreariness of enchantment: a poetess 
whom Ariosto would, with rapture, have acknowledged 
as — 

La nudrita 

Damigella Trivulzia alsacro speco. 

In the summer of 1794, she made a tour, in company 
with her husband, through Holland and the western 
frontier of Germany, returning down the Rhine. This 
was the first and only occasion, on which she quitted 
England, though the vividness of her descriptions of 
Italy, Switzerland, and the south of France, in which 
her scenes are principally laid, induced a general be- 
lief that she had visited those countries. After their 
return from the continent, she made a tour to the Eng- 
lish lakes, and published her notes in a quarto volume, 
which met with a favourable reception. 

After the pubhcation of the Italian in 1797, she did 
not favour the public with any more of her publications. 
For this determination, we are left in vain to conjecture 



120 



RADCLIFFE. 



the reasons. But so steadily did she keep her resolu- 
tion, that for more than twenty years the name of Mrs. 
RadclifTe was never mentioned, except in reference to 
her former publications, and in general there was a be- 
lief that fate had removed her from the scene. 

While her fate was thus considered by the world as 
sealed, she was enjoying her wonted recreations and stu- 
dies, with entire relish. From her diary, we learn that she 
spent much of her timxe in making excursions to various 
parts of the kingdom, and in exploring the remains of 
antiquity. The ruins of Kenilworth castle particularly 
occupied her attention, and the subject struck her ima- 
gination so forcibly, that she devoted the winter of 
1802, to writing the tale of Gaston de Blonde ville. She 
also explored the antiqluties of St. Albans, about the 
same time, the historical dignity of which she has vindi- 
cated in her longest poem. 

During the last twelve years of her life, she suffered 
at intervals from a spasmodic asthma, which occasioned 
a general loss of health. On the nintli of January 1823, 
another attack of this disease commenced, which ulti- 
mately proved fatal. She died in the morning of the 
seventh of February 1823, in the 59th year of her age. 

Mrs. Radcliffe was in her youth exquisitely propor- 
tioned. Her complexion was beautiful, as was her 
whole countenance, especially her eyes, eye brows, and 
mouth. The tenor of her private life seems to have 
been peculiarly calm and sequestered. She was edu- 
cated in the principles of the church of England; and 
through life, unless prevented by serious indisposition, 
regularly attended its services. Her piety, though cheer- 
ful, was deep and sincere. Although perfectly well 



RADCLIFFE. 



121 



ored, and endowed with faculties and tastes which ren- 
dered her a delightful companion, she wanted tliat con- 
fidence which is necessary to mixed society, and which 
she could scarcely acquire, without losing* something of 
the delicacy of feeling, which marked her character. 
If in her retirement she was sometimes afflicted by cir- 
cumstances which would have passed unheeded amidst 
the bustle of the world, she was more than repaid by 
the enjoyments which were fostered in the shade; and 
perhaps few distinguished authors have passed a life so 
blameless and so happy. As an author, she has the 
most decided claim to take her place among the fa- 
voured few, and may fairly be considered as the inventor 
of a new stj-le of romance, equally distinct from the 
old tales of chivalry and magic, and from modern re- 
presentations of credible incidents and living manners. 
Her works partially exhibit the charms of each species 
of composition; interweaving the miraculous with the 
probable, in consistent narrative, and breathing a ten- 
* derness and beauty peculiarly her own. The poetical 
marvels of the first fill the imagination, but take no 
hold on the sympathies, to which they have become 
alien: the vicissitudes of the last awaken our curiosity, 
without transporting us beyond the sphere of ordinary 
life. But it was reserved for her to infuse the won- 
drous in the credible; to animate rich descriptioi?with 
stirring adventure; and to impart a portion of human 
interest to the progress of romantic fiction. She occu- 
pied that middle region between the mighty dreams of 
the heroic ages and the realities of her own, which re- 
mained to be possessed; filled it with goodly imagery, 
and made it resonant with awful voices. Her works, in 

L 



122 



RAxMSAY. 



order to produce their greatest impression, should be 
read first, not in childhood, for which they are too sub- 
stantial; nor at mature age, for which they may seem 
too visionary; but at that delightful period of youth, 
when the soft twilight of the imagination harmonizes 
with the luxurious and uncertain light cast on their 
wonders. By those who come at such an age to their 
perusal, they will never be forgotten. 



Martha Laurens Ramsat, a lady eminent for her 
piety and learning, was born in Charleston, South Ca- 
rolina, November 3d, 1759, and was the daughter of 
Henry Laurens, Esq., a distinguished American patriot. 
She early discovered a great capacity and eagerness for 
learning, and as she -grew up, acquired a critical know- 
ledge of the French language and made considerable 
progress in mathematical science. 

In her twelfth year she began to be the subject of 
serious religious impressions, and was brought by the 
grace of God cordially to accept of salvation freely of- 
fered, though dearly purchased. She afterwards pre- 
pared, and solemnly executed an instrument of writingy 
called by her with great propriety, " A self-dedication 
and solemn covenant with God." In this, after a suitable 
introduction, she presents before her Maker the whole 
frame of her nature, all the faculties of her mind, and 
all the members of her body, as a living sacrifice holy 
and acceptable unto God. And not only consecrates 
all that she was and all that she had to his service, but 




RAMSAY. 



123 



humbly resigns to his heavenly will all that she called 
her's, to be disposed of as he pleased. The engag-e- 
ments thus solemnly entered into were in unison witli 
her subsequent conduct through life. In 1775, she, in 
company with her aunt and uncle, visited England, where 
she resided for some time, and formed an acquaintance 
with many persons eminent for their piety and literary 
acquirements. From England she passed over to France, 
and resided there till the re-establishment of peace, im- 
proving her mind and cidtivating the friendship of the 
learned. 

Her father, who succeeded Mr. Hancock as president 
of congress, but was afterwards deputed to solicit a loan 
from Holland and to negociate a treaty with the United 
Netherlands, in the year 1780, while on his passage to 
Europe, was taken prisoner and confined in the Tower 
of London. About the same time she also received in- 
telligence, that her dearly beloved brother. Col. John 
Laurens, had fallen in battle. Under this complication 
of distresses, she found the wisdom and comfort of hav- 
ing secured a friend in her Maker, by a solemn covenant 
entered into with him in the morning of life, and in the 
full enjoyment of health, and in the fair prospect of 
every worldly blessing. From this source she drew 
much consolation, and bore up under every trial, trusting 
in him to whom she had in a most solem.n manner con- 
secrated herself. In due time, the clouds of adversity 
began to disperse; the prospects of America brightened. 
Her father was discharged from confinement, and after 
a separation of seven years, she joined him in Paris, 
and presided over his domestic concerns, while he as- 
sisted in the negociations which terminated in peace and 



124 



RAMSAY. 



the acknowledged independence of the United States. 
Although now placed at the head of the table of a mi- 
nister plenipotentiary in the metropolis of France, and 
amidst the gaieties of Paris, her Bible was her compa- 
nion and counsellor. She read it by day and meditated 
on it by night. It had taught her to bear adversity 
with patience, resignation, and fortitude; and now kept 
her from the intoxication and follies which are too apt 
to grow out of prosperity. On the restoration of peace, 
she returned with her aunt and sister to Charleston, 
and was afterwards married to Dr. David Ramsay, with 
whom she lived in the utmost harmony and affection, 
and became the mother of eleven children. As soon as 
her children were capable of receiving instruction, she 
liberally imparted it; and early taught them their mise- 
rable and corrupted state by nature; that they were 
born into a world of sin and misery — surrounded with 
temptations, and without a possibility of salvation, but 
by the grace of God, and a participation in the benefits 
procured for sinners by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ, and at the same time, that God was the hearer 
of prayer, the tender est of fathers, and the best of 
friends to all who put their trust in him. As her 'chil- 
dren advanced in years, she conducted her sons through 
a course of education fitting them to enter college, and 
likewise her daughters through the several studies 
taught in boarding schools. 

In every period of her adult age, whether married or 
single, when from accidental circumstances she was 
the head of the family, and in health, she daily read to 
her domestic circle a portion of the holy scriptures, and 
prayed with them. She prized prayer as the courtier 



RAMSAY. 



125 



does a key that at all times gives him access to the 
presence of his sovereign; and in all the important 
transactions of her life, resolved on nothing till she had 
. previously sought direction of God respecting it. She 
practically conformed to the apostolic precept " pray 
without ceasing, and daily brought before her Maker 
the cases of herself, family, friends, neighbours, and 
strangers, whose situation was known to be interesting. 
She was a constant and devout attendant on divine ser- 
vice; steadily recorded the text, and occasionally made 
a short analysis of the sermon. She generally spent a 
considerable part of the intervals of public worship in 
catechizing and instructing her children and servants. 
Being uncommonly economical of her time, she suffered 
none of it to be wasted. By rising early she secured the 
most valuable portion of it for devotion and business. 
A reasonable part of every day was spent in religious ex- 
ercises; much in reading well chosen books, and in 
copying original papers for her father and husband. 
(She transcribed for her husband, *' The History of the 
American Revolution;'^ "Life of Washington;'' Review 
of the Progress of Medicine, in the eighteenth century;" 
and the greater part of his " Universal History.") 

The number of books she read was astonishingly 
great, and her memory uncommonly strong in retaining 
the substance of their contents. She could recite nearly 
the whole of Young's Night Thoughts, without book. 
Psalm and prayer books were to her unnecessary, for 
their contents were imprinted on her mind. With the 
Holy Scriptures she was intimately acquainted, and 
could read tliem in their originals. Slie read with facili- 
ty the Greek and Latin classics, and was familiar with 
L 2 



126 



RAMSAYo 



most of the modern works of genius, taste, and ima« 
gination, written in the English and French languages. 
In solid learning she was not deficient, and was particu- 
larly fond of the science .of metaphysics. She was also 
a proficient in astronomy, chronology, moral and politi- 
cal philosophy, theology, natural and civil history. 

From habit, she acquired such complete command over 
her thoughts, that she could fix them by an act of her 
will, on science or business, as well as on religion. In 
sickness and adversity, she was the same self-possessed, 
unrepining, submissive, satisfied Christian, she had been 
in the days of her health and prosperity, and was discon- 
tented with nothing but her heart. Her maxim was not 
to complain of God, but to God. To him she went with 
all her burdens and cares, and sweetly reposed on his 
Almighty arm. Her unabated confidence in her Maker, 
her unconditional submission and cheerful resignation to 
his will, took away from adversity its gloom, and threw 
over it a cheerful light. In all her distresses, the bur- 
den of sin lay heavier on her mind than the burden of 
outward troubles. At the close of her life, she found 
great satisfaction in reading Drelincourt on Death, and 
Watts's World to Come. 

From the first moment of her last sickness, she had a 
presentiment that she would not survive it. This gave 
her no alarm. She made preparations for, and arranged 
the circumstances of her funeral with great composure. 
Frequently, in the course of her sickness, she gave ani- 
mated exhortations to her children and others, to make 
choice of God for their portion; and also, particular di- 
rections how to manage the family after she was gone. 
About four o'clock, P. M. June 10, 1811, she asked her 



ROBINSON* 



127 



husband and children if they were wiUing to give her 
up. They evaded the question? but she in direct terms 
informed them, that she had sometimes felt a repug- 
nance to death on their accounts, but assured them, that 
God had now made her entirely willing to give them all 
up, and in about an hour after expired. Her letters, 
Sec. have been published in one volume, 18mo. 



Mary Robixson, distinguished for her talents as a 
writer, was descended from a respectable and ancient 
Irish family. Her father, Mr. Darby, was nephew of the 
celebrated philosopher Dr. Franklin. She received the 
first rudiments of her education at Bristol, the place of 
her birth, and gave many striking specimens of future 
genius, by an early and astonishing admiration of letters, 
of which poetry seemed her favourite study. At six 
years of age, she could write with a feeling far beyond 
her years, and a degree of propriety which never could 
have been instilled into her young imagination by a 
country school, had not the dawn of poetical inspiration, 
which has since burst forth with so much splendour, al- 
ready begun to display its influence over the mind of 
the infant poet. At ten years of age she removed to 
London, and in five years afterwards she married Mr. 
Robinson, a student in Lincoln's Inn. This hasty match, 
of which love was only the basis, was, as may be sup- 
posed, attended by misfortunes. After undergoing a 
variety of vicissitudes, she resorted to the stage for a 



128 



ROBINSON. 



living, and for more than three years she performed at 
Drury Lane theatre. In the spring" of 1783, she wa^; 
attacked with a violent and dangerous fever, which ter^ 
minated in a rheumatic fever, and reduced her to the 
feebleness of an infant, which obliged her to be carried 
in the arms of her attendants to the last moment of her 
life. 

After trying every expedient for the purpose of re- 
lief, and finding all ineffectual, she resigned herself to 
her affliction, and once more resorted to the muse for 
consolation. In the year 1790, she produced her first 
prose work, entitled " Vancenza, or the Dangers of 
Credulity," the whole edition of which was disposed of 
in one day, and it has since gone through ten editions. 
Shortly after this publication, at the request of her lite- 
rary friendvS, among whom were Edmund Burke and Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, she was prevailed upon to pubhsh her 
poetical works, which exhibit splendid proofs of her 
talents. She afterwards published " The Widow, a 
novel, in two volumes; Angelina,'' a novel; Hubert 
de Sevrac," a romance; " Walsingham;" " The False 
Friend," and The Natural Daughter," all of which 
rank among the first publications of their kind. 

She continued thus growing in literary fame till the 
moment of her decease, which took place in the month 
of February, 1796. 



////./// 



■ BROTHERS. liWi-li. 



129 



MADA3IE Roland, whose maiden name was Philipon, 
was the daughter of an engraver of Paris, who had ac- 
quired a considerable fortune by his trade. At an early 
period of life, she displayed symptoms of that strength 
of understanding, which was evinced in so extraordinary 
a manner as she increased in years. She received the 
instructions of her various masters with a quickness of 
apprehension which made them anxious to impart to 
their pupil the knowledge they had obtained, and when 
she had made herself complete mistress of all they were 
capable of teaching her, they desired permission to visit 
at her house as friends, merely for the pleasure of con- 
versing with her. The perfect symmetry of her form, 
the dignity of her manners, and her great acquirements, 
procured her many admirers, who were eager to obtain 
her hand in marriage. But this happiness was reserved 
for Monsieur Roland, to whom she was afterwards unit- 
ed. Her fii^st year of marriage was spent in Paris, and 
during this period she assisted him in his literal^* occu- 
pations; as great part of the New Encyclopedia was the 
production of his pen. She wrote early and late to faci- 
litate its execution, yet neither neglected her family con- 
cerns or her child. In the year 1784, they made the 
tour of England together; and, in 1787, they travelled 
through Switzerland. Her observations upon the coun- 
try and people, have been given in her memoirs, to 
which I refer my readers for a variety of interesting and 
entertaining remarks. Mons. Roland having been made 



130 



ROLAND. 



inspector of commerce and manufactures in the gene- 
rality of Lyons, his wife, even then, aided him in the 
employ. About this time, also, he formed a connexion 
with Brissot to publish a paper, which was afterwards 
written with all the ardour and spirit of freedom that in- 
spired the ancient heroes of Rome. During the time 
that he filled his official station under government, he 
conducted himself with that inflexible regard to justice, 
that obtained him the highest applause. He was after- 
wards elected a member of the municipality, and cor- 
rected many abuses in the administration of public af- 
fairs. On the 29th of February, 1791, he arrived with 
his family at Paris, after an absence of five years; then 
it was he became acquainted with Brissot, Carzales, 
Barere, and Robespierre. Soon after this, he was raised 
to the important station of minister of the home depart- 
ment; Brissot and Dumouriez were his colleagues; and, 
upon his first appointment, it appears that he was sin- 
cerely attached to the king. Too soon, however, an al- 
teration took place in his sentiments; he openly disap- 
proved the measures which were pursued; the public 
weal appeared to him to be in danger, and he thought it 
incumbent upon him, either to provide for the general 
safety, or relinquish his post. After mature delibera- 
tion, he addressed a letter to the king, which was fol- 
lowed by his discharge from office. After the revolu- 
tion of the 10th of August, he, however, was again re- 
called. I must now pass over the eventful scenes which 
followed, and merely say, that he experienced those 
vicissitudes which are attached to human life; for, from 
being the favourite of the people, he became inimical to 
them, and had he not fled from their resentment, he 



ROLAND. 



131 



aoubtless would have been guillotined. The most un- 
just censures were not only thrown upon the conduct 
of the ex-minister, but liis wife was made a sharer of his 
disgi-ace; she was accused of spending the public money 
in sumptuous entertainments, though she never gave a 
dinner more than twice a week; the utmost economy 
was observed on these occasions, and her guests were 
never treated with more than one course. For three 
months previous to the arrestation of this undaunted 
woman, she was advised by her friends to secure her 
own and her daughter's safety by retreat, but she enter- 
tained an idea, that it was only for the guilty to avail 
themselves of flight. Upon the revolutionary com- 
mittee issuing a warrant for apprehending her husband, 
she drove to the national assembly, to represent the in- 
justice of the proceeding, and to demand their inter- 
ference in his cause; and, though she could not obtain 
admission, she expressed her sentiments to those mem- 
bers whom she accidentally saw. Upon returning home 
late in the evening, a man, unperceived by the porter, 
slipped into the house, and demanded to see Mons^ 
Eoland, who had fortunately escaped at the back door. 
About midnight, a large body of men surrounded her 
mansion, and demanded Mons. Roland, but after search- 
ing the house, they went away dissatisfied, leaving a 
sentinel at her door. After finishing a letter, which she 
vas writing when they entered, she retired to her bed, 
but was soon roused from her peaceful slumbers by the 
entrance of her maid. Without any appearance of alarm, 
she arose and dressed herself with the nicest care, en- 
tered the apartment with an undismayed countenance, 
sjtid demanded what business they had with her. We 



152 



ROLAND. 



come, cltoyenne, (said one,) to put seals upon your pro- 
perty, to take you into custody, and conduct you to 
the prison of the Abbaye? here is a warrant from the re- 
volutionary committee, which orders me to arrest Ro- 
land and his wife." To this she remonstrated as being 
illegal. Seals having been affixed to her drawers, she 
thought it best to submit, and begged permission to take 
some clothes for her daughter and herself. At seven 
in the morning, she took an affectionate leave of her 
daughter, whose grief was of the most affecting kind, 
and walked with a dignified composure to take her seat 
in the carriage. An armed force, drawn up in two files, 
followed the carriage, " Away with her to the guillo- 
tine,*' exclaimed the populace as she passed. Shall we 
draw up the blinds?" said one of the commissioners, 
who appeared not to have lost every finer feeling of the 
heart. No, sir, I thank you, (replied Mad. Roland;) 
innocence though oppressed, never puts on the guise of 
guilt; I fear not the eye of any one, and will not conceal 
myself from their view." "You have more strength of 
mind than most men, and will wait patiently for justice,*'' 
he rejoined. " Justice," said she, with an impassioned 
accent, " were justice done me, I should not now be in 
your hands; but should an iniquitous procedure send me 
to the scaffold, T shall walk to it with the sam.e firmness 
and tranquillity as I now pass to prison. My heart 
bleeds for my country, while I regret my mistake in 
supposing it qualified for freedom and happiness; life, 
I appreciate at its due value; I never feared any thing" 
but guilt; death and injustice I despise." Having arrived 
at the prison of the Abbaye, that theatre of blood and mas- 
sacre, her eyes were shocked with prospects at which hu- 



ROLAND. 



13S 



inanity and feeling revolts, yet she was treated with mark- 
ed civility both by the keeper and his wife. As soon as 
she entered her wretched apartment, she inquired of the 
keeper, what the expenses would be, and whether he 
would allow her to see any body, &c. Whilst talking 
to the keeper, the name of Grandpre was announced to 
her; her eyes filled with tears, and she was scarcely able 
to speak; he advised her to write to the national con- 
vention, and promised to return for the letter in two 
hours. In this epistle, she remonstrated against the in- 
justice of the treatment she had suffered, and demanded 
protection from the assembly, in the language of a per- 
son oppressed. *'If the convention," said she, " con- 
firms my arrest, I appeal to the law which ordains the 
declaration of the crime, and the examination of the 
prisoner within four and twenty hours after he is put 
under arrest. In the last place, I demand a report on 
the account of that irreproachable man, who exhibits an 
instance of unheard of persecution, and who seems des- 
tined to give to all Europe, the terrible lesson of virtue 
proscribed by the blindness of infuriate prejudice. If to 
have shared the strictness of his principles, the energy 
of his mind, and the ardour of his love of liberty, be 
crimes, then I plead guilty, and await mjr punishment. 
Pronounce sentence, ye legislators! France, freedom, 
the fate of the republic and yourselves, depend upon 
this day's distribution of that justice which you are call- 
ed upon to dispense." The letter from which this ex- 
tract was taken, was brought back next morning for the 
purpose of having some of the expressions softened. It 
was with reluctance she complied with the wishes of 
her friendly counsellor, as she wished it to have been 

M 



134 



ROLAND. 



presented in its original state. During the whole time 
of her imprisonment, she possessed in an eminent de- 
gree, great composure and cheerfulness. Daily were 
new victims of cruelty and injustice brought to the 
prison; scenes of horror greater than the imagination can 
picture, were continually presented before her eyes; 
books, however, afforded occupation to her ideas, and 
dissipated the painful thoughts which arose in her mind. 
Still, however, she was not summoned before the mock 
tribunal of justice. After remaining some months a pri- 
soner in the Abb aye, during which time, she endeavour- 
ed to dispel the gloom of a prison, by writing memoirs 
of the events of the times, she was desired to step into 
an adjoining room, as a gentleman wished to give her 
some pleasing intelligence respecting her affairs. It is 
not difficult to conceive the delight she must have ex- 
perienced, at being told she was at liberty to quit her 
dreary abode. A hackney coach was called, and she 
ordered it to drive immediately to her house. " Good 
morning to you, Lamarre," said she to the porter, in a 
cheerful accent, whose countenance was expressive of 
astonishment and joy; but scarcely had she ascended 
half a dozen of the stairs, when she observed two men 
who had followed her into the house. " Whom do you 
want?" she enquired, turning towards them. *' We ar- 
rest you in the name of the law,*^ they replied. Her 
feehngs at that moment must have been such as no lan- 
guage can depicture. She hesitated a few moments^ 
and descended without speaking a word. She quitted 
the abode which she entered with such pleasing emo- 
tions, and hastily walked across the court yard. 
Whither are you going?'' enquired the men, in a tone 



ROLAND. 



135 



of authority. ** To my landlord's,^' she replied, "with 
whom I must speak." The door was opened by the 
landlord's wife, whose countenance was expressive of 
the pleasure she felt at beholding her released. " Let 
me sit down and breathe (exclaimed the agitated Mad. 
Roland,) and do not rejoice at my being set at liberty, 
for it is a most cruel device; the moment T was released 
from the Abbaye prison^ I was arrested, and ordered 
to St. Pelagie." The mildness of her demeanour, the 
composure with which she submitted to confinement in 
this second place of imprisonment, raised her up friends, 
and she received those little indulgencies which were 
calculated to soften the severity of her fate. The time 
however, at length arrived, when suspense was con- 
verted into certainty; the condemnation of the twenty- 
two deputies, she considered as a presage of her own 
fate. She then addressed a letter to Eobespierre, ap- 
pealing to him for justice, written with all that pathos, 
and strength of reasoning, for which she was justly 
famed. When summoned to appear before the tribunal, 
her air was undaunted, and her countenance serene; but 
the insulting questions which were put to her, excited 
the most painful emotions, and as she was conducted to 
the Conciergerie, she burst into tears. The fortitude 
for which she was so remarkable, how^ever, soon return- 
ed to her, and during the week that elapsed between 
her condemnation and the execution of the sentence, 
she uttered no complaint. Her companion to the scaf- 
fold was a man of the name of La Marche, whom she 
endeavoured to inspire with a resolution similar to her 
own. Her dress was white; her long dark hair was flow- 
ing, and though past the prime of life, she still possessed 



1S6 



ROPER. 



many charms. When she arrived at the place of exe- 
cution, she bowed before the statue of Liberty, and 
exclaimed, " O Liberty, how many crimes are committed 
in thy name!" Her husband did not long survive her. 
Madame Roland was mistress of several sciences; her 
penetration and her judgment never were excelled: she 
wrote several modern languages with critical accuracy, 
and her thoughts are allowed to have flown more rapid 
than her pen: in private and domestic life, she practised 
every virtue; her filial piety was exemplary; her conju- 
gal affection most sincere; she scrupulously fulfilled the 
duties of a mother, and by all her acquaintance she was 
both loved and revered. Her works are published in 
four volumes, octavo. 



BOPZSB. 

Margaret Hoper. In favour of the liberal cultivation 

of the minds of women, it may be observed, that, at no 
period of English history, does there appear to have 
been greater attention paid to the culture of the female 
mind, than during the age of Elizabeth; and at no time 
has there existed a greater number of amiable and re- 
spectable women. Even the domestic affections and 
appropriate virtues of the sex, modesty, prudence, and 
conjugal fidelity, far from being superseded by study 
and the liberal sciences, are, on the contrary, both 
strengthened and embellished. The habits of reflection 
and retirement which grow out of the exercise of the 
understanding, are equally favourable to virtue and th® 



ROPER. 



isr 



cultivation of the heart. While the mind, by seeking" 
resources in itself, acquires a character of dig-nity and 
independence, a sentiment of grandeur and generosity 
is communicated to its affections and sympathies. Dis- 
sipation and frivolous pursuits, by enfeebling the under- 
standing, have a tendency to harden and to narrow the 
heart. If the concentrated passions of stronger minds, 
and these examples among women are rare, have some- 
times been productive of fatal effects, an impressive 
and affecting lesson, as in the sublimer devastations of 
nature, may be derived even from their failures. 

But the being, restless in the pursuit of novelty, irri- 
table, dependent, unstable, and vain, who lives only 
to be amused, becomes necessarily selfish and worthless, 
the contempt and burden of society, the reproach of 
one sex, and the scorn of the other. Among women 
distinguished for their virtues and acquirements in the 
-sixteenth century, the three daughters of Sir Thomas 
More hold an elevated rank. 

Margaret, the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas More, 
lord high chancellor of England, was born in London, in 
the year 1508. She received, in the fashion of the 
times, a learned education, while men of the first lite- 
rary reputation were procured by her father for her pre- 
ceptors. The following interesting and patriarchal de- 
scription of the family of the chancellor, is given by 
Erasmus. More," says he, in a letter to a friend, 

has built, near London, on the banks of the Thames, 
(Chelsea,) a commodious house, where he converses 
affably with his family, consisting of his wife, his son, 
and daughter-in-law, his three daughters, and their hus- 
bands, with eleven grand-children. There is no man 
M 2 



138 



living so fond of his children, or who possesses a more 
excellent temper. You would call his house the academy 
of Plato. But I should do it an injury by such a com- 
parison; it is rather a school of Christian goodness; in 
which piety, virtue, and the liberal sciences, are studied 
by every individual of the family. No wrangling, or in- 
temperate language, is ever heard; no one is idle; the 
discipline of the household is courtesy and benevo- 
lence. Every one performs his duty with cheerfulness 
and alacrity, &c. " What a charming picture, contrasted 
with modern seminaries of vanity and dissipation! 

Margaret, the eldest daughter of this amiable family, 
was more particularly distinguished for her talents and 
genius. At a very early period she became mistress of 
the Greek and Latin languages, and also made consid- 
erable progress in astronomy, philosophy, physics, lo- 
gic, rhetoric, music, and arithmetic. 

In the twentieth year of her age, she married Mr. 
William Roper, and resided at Chelsea with her father, 
until he was taken into custody and confined in the 
Tower. Two sons and three daughters were the fruit 
of this marriage, whose education was superintended by 
their mother with the most assiduous care. 

Mrs. Roper corresponded, and was personally ac- 
quainted with Erasmus, the restorer of learning, by 
whom she was styled Britannice Ihcus, and in whose es- 
timation she held a high place. 

At different periods, Erasmus corresponded with her 
sisters, Ehzabeth and Cecilia; but Margaret, to whom he 
dedicated some hymns of Prudentius, appears to have 
been his favourite. Having in the early part of her life, 
applied herself to the languages, she now prosecuted, 



ROPER. 



139 



with no Itss assiduity, the study of philosophy, of the 
sciences, of physics, and of theology. The two latter 
branches of knowledge were more particularly recom- 
mended by her father. 

Till this period, her life glided on serenely, a calm 
unruffled stream, in the acquisition of science, and in 
the bosom of her family. It became now agitated and 
peTturbed, by the tragical fate of her beloved and in- 
valuable father. 

Sir Thomas, having offended the king, by giving his 
sentiments upon the impropriety of his being divorced 
from Catharine of Arragon, for the purpose of making 
Anne Boleyn queen, found it prudent to resign the im- 
portant post of lord high chancellor, and retire to a pri- 
vate station of life. 

The liberality of his disposition, and the generosity 
of his sentiments, had prevented him from amassing any 
portion of wealth, and, calling his children around him, 
he informed them they could no longer live in their 
usual style, yet he could not bear to resign their society, 
although it would be necessary to alter their mode of life. 
"I have," said that great man, addressing them in a tone 
of cheerfulness, *'been brought up at Oxford; from 
thence I went to an inn of Chancery; from thence to Lin- 
coln's inn, and in the king's court, from the lowest to ths 
highest degree; yet, at tlie present time, I have a little 
more left me than a hundred pounds a year; but my 
council is, that we descend not to the lowest fare at once, 
but we will begin with Lincoln's inn diet, and, if we 
find ourselves not in a capacity to live thus the first 
year, we will conform to that of Oxford; and if our purses 
will not admit of that^ we must go a begging to^e- 



140 



ROPER. 



ther, with a bag and a wallet, hoping that some good 
people will give us their charity; and at every man's 
door we will sing a salve regina, whereby we shall keep 
company, and be merry together." 

There is something so truly philosophical and amia- 
ble in this cheerful and resigned manner of meeting the 
vicissitudes of life, that it is impossible even to peruse 
an account of such conduct without emotions of pleasure 
and delight. Notwithstanding the wishes of this affec- 
tionate father, the happy society was soon afterwards 
dissolved; for upon Sir Thomas refusing to take the 
oath of supremacy, to the inexpressible grief of Mrs. 
Roper, he was sent to the tower. Being now deprived 
of the pleasure of conversing with his daughter and 
family, an intercourse was kept up between the daugh- 
ter and father by correspondence, and in one of her let- 
ters she expresses her affection in the following words. 
— " V»' hat do you think, my most dear father, can com- 
fort us in your absence? Surdy the remembrance of 
your manner of life passed amongst us; your holy con- 
versation, your w^holesome counsels, your examples of 
virtue; of which there is hope, that they do not only 
persevere with you, but that they are by God's grace, 
much more increased." When orders were issued to 
prevent this exalted character from enjoying the hap- 
piness of writing to this beloved child with ink, he con- 
trived to write to her with a coal. 

It is related by Dr. Knight, in his life of Erasmus, that 
sentence having been passed on the chancellor, his 
daughter, as he was returning towards the tower, rush- 
ing through the populace and guards, threw herself upon 
his neck^ and without speaking, in a stupor of despair. 



ROPER. 



141 



strained him closely in her arms. Even the guards at 
this affecting" scene, melted into compassion, while the 
fortitude of the illustrious prisoner nearly yielded. " My 
dear Margaret," said he, " I submit with patience; grieve 
no longer for me; it is the will of God, and must be 
borne." Tenderly embracing her, he withdrew him- 
self from her arms. He had not proceeded many paces, 
when she again rushed towards him; again in a parox- 
ysm of sorrow more eloquent than words, threw herself 
on his bosom. Tears flowed down the venerable cheeks 
of Sir Thomas, while he gazed on her with tender 
earnestness; yet his heroic purpose continued unmoved. 
Having entreated her prayers for him, he bade her affec- 
tionately farewell, while every spectator dissolved in 
tender sympathy. 

The cares of Margaf-et extended to the lifeless re- 
mains of her beloved parent: by her interest and exer- 
tions, his body was afterwards interred in the chapel of 
St. Peter's, ad vincula^ within the precincts of the tower, 
but was afterwards removed to the chancel of the 
church at Chelsea. His head having remained fourteen 
days exposed upon London Bridge, in conformity to 
his sentence, was about to be cast into the Thames, 
when it was purchased by his daughter. Being, on this 
occasion, inhumanly summoned before the council, she 
firmly avowed and justified her conduct. This boldness 
did not escape the vengeance of the king; she was 
committed to prison; whence after a short restraint, and 
vain attempts to subdue her courage by menaces, she 
was liberated, and restored to her husband and family. 

The remainder of her life was passed in domestic re- 
tirement, in the bosom of her family, and in the educa- 



ROPEK. 



tion of her children. She is described by the historian 
of Sir Thomas, as a woman of singular powers and en- 
dowments, and as chosen by her father, for her sagacity 
and prudence, as his friend and confidant. 

She composed many Latin epistles, poems, and ora- 
tions, which were dispersed among the learned of her 
acquaintance. She wrote, in reply to Quintilian, an 
oration, in defence of the rich man, whom he accuses 
of having poisoned, with certain venomous flowers in 
his garden, the poor man's bees. This performance is 
said to have rivalled in eloquence the production to 
which it was in answer. She also composed a treatise 

Of the Four Last Things,^^ with so much justness of 
thought, and strong reasoning, as obliged her father to 
confess its superiority to a discourse in which he was 
himself employed on the same subject, and which it is 
supposed, on that account, he never concluded. The 
ecclesiastical history of Eusebius was translated by this 
lady from the Greek into Latin: this labour of learning 
was afterwards translated from the Latin into Enghsh by 
Mary the daughter of Margaret lloper, who inherited 
the talents of her mother. 

This amiable and accomplished female survived her 
father only nine years: she had been a wife sixteen 
years, and died in 1544, in her thirty-sixth year. Of the 
abilities of this lady the strongest testimony has been 
given; she was unquestionably one of the most learned 
females of the sixteenth century, yet her fondness for 
literature never induced her to neglect any of the ac- 
tive duties of life; she was a dutiful and affectionate 
daughter, a fond and tender wife and mother, a gentle 
mistress, and a faithful friend; her charity was extensive, 



ROWE. 



i 14S 



her piety was exemplary, and it is difficult to say whe- 
ther she was most admired for the virtues of the heart, 
or the qualifications of the mind. 

As an author, she is mentioned in terms of the highest 
approbation by some of the most learned men of that 
age; her sisters were no less famed for their literary 
knowledge. 



Elizabeth Rowe, not less admired for her judicious, 
pious, and useful compositions, than esteemed and loved 
by her cotemporaries, for the amiable qualities of her 
heart, was born at Ilchester, England, September 11th, 
1674, and was the eldest daughter of Walter Singer, 
Esq., a gentleman of good family and of great worth 
and piety. At an early period of life she displayed 
symptoms of those abilities which shone with so much 
lustre as she advanced in years. From her parents sh@ 
imbibed those devotional sentiments which breathe 
through all her works; her manners were as pure and 
spotless as her sentiments, and her taste was at once 
elegant and refined. At the age of twelve years she 
began writing poetry; she painted and drew in elegant 
style, and was a proficient on several instruments. She 
also read and had a critical knowledge of the French 
and Italian languages. Tn the year 171 0, she was united 
to the Rev. Mr. Rowe, with whom she lived in great 
harmony and conjugal felicity for five years, when death 
put a period to his existence. The exquisite grief and 
affliction «he felt for his loss, is btautifuUy and eloquently 



144 



HOWE* 



expressed in one of her poems, and several of her let 
ters to her friends. Soon after this event, in compliance 
with the importunate wishes of a fnend, she passed some 
months in London, where she composed the most cele- 
brated of her works, entitled ** Friendship in Death, 
or Letters from the Dead to the Living.'' The intention 
of this work is to impress the notion of the souPs im- 
mortality, without which all virtue and religion, with 
their temporal and eternal good consequences must fall 
to the ground. Three years afterwards, she published 
** Letters, Moral and Entertaining, in prose and verse." 
In the year 1736, she published **The History of Jo- 
seph,'* to which she afterwards added two books, which 
were published but a few weeks before her death. 
This grand event, to prepare for which she had made so 
much the business of her life, befel her according to 
her wishes, in her beloved recess. A few months be- 
fore her decease, she was attacked with a distemper 
which threatened her life. This disorder found her mind 
not quite so serene and prepared to meet death, as she 
wished, yet, when by devout contemplations on the 
atonement and mediation of our Saviour she had fortified 
herself against that fear and diffidence which the most 
exalted piety is not always secure in that solemn hour, 
she experienced such divine satisfaction and transport, 
that she said with tears of joy, " She knew not that she 
had ever felt the like in all her life." She afterwards 
partially recovered^ and her friends flattered themselves 
with the hope that she still might live many years. On 
the 19th of February, 1737, she appeared unusually well, 
and retired to rest at an early hour, but a short time 
after she had been in her apartment, her servant was 



ROWE. 



145 



aWmed by hearing something heavy fall, and entering 
it with alarm and trepidation, found her beloved mis- 
tress in an apparent dying state ! Medical aid was im- 
mediately called in, but all human assistance proved 
vain, and she expired about two o'clock in the following 
morning, without even uttering a sigh. In her room, on 

. a table, were found several letters, addressed to her 
most intimate friends, with this affecting superscription, 

■ **Not to be delivered until after my death." These 
letters breathed those sentiments of piety and affection, 
that peculiarly marked every action of her life,- in them 
she expressed a hope of enjoying eternal happiness 
through the mediation and intercession of Jesus Christ. 
Her person is thus described by a relative: "Her sta- 
ture was moderate, her hair of a fine auburn; her eyes 
dark gray, rather inclinable to blue, full of sweetness and 
expression; her complexion naturally fair, and her coun- 
tenance animated by a beautiful bloom. She spoke 
gracefully, and her voice was at once harmonious and 
sweet, suited to the language which flowed from her 
lips. The softness and benevolence of her aspect were 

, beyond all description, it at once inspired veneration 
and love; and it was impossible to behold her without 
feeling regard and esteem." 

Mrs. Rowe's wit, beauty, and merit, had from her 
youth conciliated to her much compliment and praise, 
and these from such judges of worth as might have given 
some tincture of vanity to her mind. Yet amidst all 
these temptations to pride, she retained all the humility 
of the meanest and most obscure person of the human 
race. She rarely mentioned any of her writings, even 
to her most intimate friends, nor ever discovered the 



146 



ROWE. 



least elation of mind at their great success, and the ap- 
probation they received from some of the finest writers 
of the age. The praises with which her works were 
honoured, only led her to ascribe the glory to the original 
of all perfection, on whose power she maintained a 
constant sense of her dependence, and with the most 
grateful piety ovvmed her obligations to his goodness. 

It is but for heaven," said she, " to give a turn to one 
of my nerves, and I should be an idiot.'' Her modesty 
was so great, that she was never known to say any 
thing that could tend to her own honour: " nor can I 
remember," says her historian, during the long inti- 
macy with which she favoured me, one expression of 
vanity, or sense of her own worth, that might in the 
least stain her humility. She never dictated to others 
nor arrogated any respect and deference to her own 
sentiments, but in conversing with persons of parts, and 
abilities far beneath her own, seemed to study to make 
the superiority of her genius easy to them by the most 
obliging goodness and condescension of behaviour. Nor 
were her affabihty and readiness of access to those of 
the lowest rank, less remarkable and exemplary. It 
was impossible for her to treat any one with insolence, 
or contempt. On the contrary, as she infinitely reve- 
renced and lovedt rue goodness, I have been witness of 
the real and peculiar respect she paid to sincere piety, 
when great degrees of ignorance, and extremely mean 
circumstances, might have quite obscured it to less hum.« 
ble and generous minds." 

She was perfectly untainted with the love of pleasure, 
which is so inimicable to religion and virtue. She was 
ignorant of every polite and fashionable game. Play^ 



ROWE. 



147 



si^e believed at best, was but an art of losing time, and 
forg"etting' to think; but when she reflected on the fatal 
consequences that attend a fond attachment to cards 
and dice, she had even a horror of them. Her taste 
was too just to relish those insipid trifles called novels 
and romances, and which are not unfrequently worse 
than insipid, being* filled with indecent images, which 
pollute the imagination, and shock every chaste mind. 

Mrs. Rowe was exemplary for every relative duty. 
Filial piety was a remarkable part of her character. She 
loved the best of fathers as she ought, and repaid his 
uncommon care and tenderness by all just returns of 
duty and affection. She has often been heard to say, 
** That she could die, rather than do any thing to dis- 
please him.'' 

As a wife, her esteem and affection appeared in all 
her conduct to Mr. Rowe, and by the most gentle and 
obliging manners, and the exercise of every social vir- 
tue, she confirmed the empire she had gained over his 
heart. She made it her duty to soften the anxieties, and 
heighten all the satisfactions of his life. Her capacity 
for superior things did not tempt her to neglect the 
less honourable cares ^vhich the laws of custom and de- 
cency impose on the female sex, in the connubial state, 
and much less was she led by a sense of her own merit, 
to assume any thing to herself inconsistent with that 
duty and submission which the precepts of Christian 
piety so expressly enjoin. As a mistress, she was gentle 
and kind, treating her servants with great condescen- 
sion and goodness, and almost with the affability of a 
6'iend and equaL 



148 



ROWE. 



She was charitable and kind to the poor and distress- 
ed. She not only avoided all superfluous expenses in 
dress and luxury, but through an excess of benevolence, 
if there can be any excess in such a god-like disposi- 
tion, to enlarge her abilities of doing good to her fellow 
creatures, she denied herself what might, in some sense, 
be called the necessaries of life. 

This excellent woman practised prayer three times a 
day, as appears by this resolution taken from her manu- 
script. At morning, at noon, and at night, I will 
praise thee, and pay my homage to the Supreme and In- 
dependent Being." 

She had a high veneration and love for the Lord's 
day, which, abstaining from worldly affairs and plea* 
sures, she wholly consecrated to the service of religion. 
No slight indisposition, nor severity of weather, prevent- 
ed h'^r constant attendance on public worship, at which 
her attention and reverent behaviour showed the ut- 
most composure and elevation of soul. But her regard 
to the public worship of God, will best appear by the 
following passage, extracted from a volume of her devo- 
tions. " I solemnly," says she, " set apart one day in 
the week, if possible Sunday, for my retired devotions, 
to prepare myself for the noble employment of public 
worship; and then let all the powers of my soul be ex- 
ercised in love and humble adoration. Let me make 
more sensible approaches to the propitious being whom 
unseen I love, and let him fill me with the ineffable de- 
lights his presence affords, and make me joyful in the 
house of prayer. Let me be abundantly satisfied with 
the fatness of his house, and drink of the rivers of his 
pleasure." She never neglected any opportunity of 



HOWE. 



149 



partaking of the holy communion, for which she had the 
highest affection and reverence; and the same vohime 
affords the following passage of tlie devout and virtuous 
resolutions she made at such sacred seasons. 

** With every sacrament let me remember my strength, 
and with the bread of life receive immortal vigour. Let 
me remember thy vows, O God! and, at my return to the 
world, let me commit my ways to thee. Let me be ab- 
solutely resigned to thy providence, nor once distrust 
thy goodness and fidelity. Let me be cai'eful for no- 
thing, but with prayer and supplication, make my wants 
known to thee. Let the most awful sense of thy pre' 
sence dwell on my heart, and always keep me in a se- 
rious disposition. Let me be merciful and just in my ac- 
tions, calm and regular in my thoughts; and O do thou 
set a watch on my mouth, and keep the door of my lips! 
let me speak evil of no man; let me advance the repu- 
tation of the virtuous, and never be silent in the praise 
of merit. Let my tongue speak the language of my 
heart, and be guided by exact truth and perfect sinceri- 
ty. Let me open my hands wide to the wants of the 
poor, in full confidence that my heavenly father will 
supply mine, and that the high possessor of heaven and 
earth, will not fail to restore, in the hour of my distress, 
what T have parted witli for his sake. O let thy grace 
be sufficient for me, and thy strength be manifest in 
weakness! Be present with me in the hour of tempta- 
tion, and confirm the pious resolutions thou hast en- 
abled m« to perform. 

Mrs. Rowe appeared to be peculiarly formed for the 
practice of sublime and ardent piety. It was the su- 
preme pleasure of her life. She had an inexpressible 
N 2 



150 



TIOWE. 



love and veneration for the Holy Scriptures, and was 
assiduous in reading* them, particularly the New Testa- 
ment, the psalms, and those parts of the prophetical 
writings which relate to our blessed Saviour. For some 
time before her death, she scarce read any thing* besides 
these sacred books, and practical treatises on relig*ious 
subjects. She was also used to assist her improvement 
in holiness, and the Christian life, by frequent medita- 
tions on the blessedness of a future state, the perfec- 
tions of God, particularly in his infinite goodness and 
mercy in the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ, 
and on other important articles of relig*ion, which ap- 
peared best suited to promote devout and holy disposi- 
tions. Besides these her usual exercises of piety, she 
observed stated seasons of abstinence and extraordinary 
devotion. 

Mrs. Rov/e's writings give a faithful picture of her 
soul. Her profound humility, and supreme affection to 
God, her faith in his promises, and dependence on his 
providence, her zeal for his glory, and love to the ho- 
liness of his laws, appear in the strongest light in her 
works. But as it would too much swell this account, 
by transcribing her sentiments on these heads, we refer 
the reader to her works, particularly to the " Devout 
Exercises of her Heart." 



i 



151 



Bussisxix:.. 

Rachel Russell. This incomparable lady was born 
in England, about the year 1636. 

It is well known, and is an event which can never be 
forgotten, that the husband of this lady, William lord 
Russell, was beheaded July 21, 1683. 

By lord Russell she had three children, all of whom 
she educated, and who gave evident proofs, in maturer 
years, of the judicious and excellent management of 
their instructress. 

Virtue, tenderness, piety, and an undeviating affection 
to her relations, were the prominent traits in her charac- 
ter. She possessed a mind equal to the sufferings she 
endured. 

When lady Russell was called to the heart-rending, 
but, to a mind like hers, insupportable trial of her be- 
loved lord, she acted with firmness and decision; and 
though it is generally allowed, from the manner in which 
lord Russell was taken up, that the court would have 
connived at his escape, no advice was given by her con- 
trary to that conduct, which she considered consonant 
with his honour and his innocence. She attended him 
with the same unshaken firmness, till within a very few 
hours of his lamented sufferings. During the fortnight 
that elapsed, between his committment to the tower 
and his trial, she was actively employed in procuring 
information as to the charges which were likely to be 
brought against him, and in adopting every means of 
precaution. Such was her wonderful knowledge on this 
trying occasion, that it is stated in the report of the 



152 



RUSSELL. 



trial, that the chief-justice and attorney-general thought 

themselves vindicated from every suspicion of neg-lect, 
in not previously communicating the pannel of the jury 
to lord Russell, by endeavouring to prove that a list of 
the names had been given to his wife. Lord Russell, on 
being asked if he wished for a person to take notes for 
him, replied, My wife is here to do it/' 

While making every human exertion to obtain a mi- 
tigation of the sentence; while eveiy plan was being 
tried; while indefatigably offering to accompany him in- 
to exile, his heroic and lovely wife, never for one mo- 
ment requested him to swerve from the strictest honoiu' 
and integrity. On Friday evening, July 21, 1683, lady 
Russell presented her children to take leave of their ex- 
cellent father; and lord Russell, in that last interview, 
speaking, said, " There was a signal providence of God 
in giving him such a wife, where there was birth, for- 
tune, gi'eat understanding, great religion, and a great 
kindness to him." Qn the Sunday evening she returned 
herself, to receive the last parting blessing of her ador- 
ing husband, under which she supported herself with 
the same Christian spirit — the same pious fortitude — the 
same strength of mind — and with a firm reliance on a 
superior power, which, through her whole life, was ma- 
nifested by her. She parted from him without shedding 
a tear, and retired, in silent, but expressive anguish, to 
her wretched and dreary home. 

Lady Russell sustained the death of this justly belov- 
ed husband, with that submission to the will of heaven, 
which had marked every action of her life, and, by the 
faithful discharge of the duties of a mother, endeavour- 
ed to supply the loss her children had sustained. Her 



RUSSELL. 



153 



piety is allowed to have been equal to her resignation; 
her benevolence was extended towards all who were 
distressed; to the friends of her husband, she evinced 
her attachment to his memory, by treating them with 
every mark of affection and respect. The letters of 
lady Russell, which were written after the death of his 
lordship, have been remarked for the beauty of their 
sentiment, and the elegance of their style. The death 
of a beloved husband was not the only private sorrow 
she had to encounter, for her only son, who was created 
duke of Bedford, died of the small-pox in the very 
prime of life; her daughter, the dutchess of Rutland, also 
died in child-bed, at the time the dutchess of Devon- 
shire, her other daughter, was confined. 

A remarkable instance of lady Russell's fortitude was 
given upon this melancholy occasion; it was absolutely 
necessary that the dutchess of Devonshire should have 
no suspicion of her sister's death, and lady Russell was 
obliged, not only to conceal her affliction, but to appear 
cheerful whenever in her sight. After having seen the 
young and beautiful dutchess of Rutland placed in her 
coffin, she ordered her chair to Devonshire house. 

How is my sister?" was the first interrogation. ** My 
dear," replied her ladyship," I have just seen her out of 
bed;" and the dutchess satisfied with this answer, con- 
cluded her sister was recovering her health. 

This amiable woman survived her husband upwards 
of forty years, and died September 29, 1723, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-seven. 

It is impossible to peruse the character of lady Rus- 
lell without a mixture of admiration, sympathy, and de- 
sight; we admire her fortitude, participate in her misfor- 



154 



SAPPHO. 



tunes, and feel a pleasure in tracing the amiable turn of 
her mind. Women like her afford a pattern to posterity, 
of all those virtues that render their sex objects of 
esteem and desire; she dignified by her conduct, the 
rank she held in society, and future ages will be taught 
to venerate her name. Her letters have passed through 
several editions, and, in point of style, hold a high rank 
in British literaturCc 



SAPPHO. 

Sappho, an eminent Greek poetess, was a native of 
Mitylene, in the isle of Lesbos. She flourished accord- 
ing to Suidas, in the forty-second Olympiad; according 
to Eusebius, in the forty-fourth Olympiad, about six 
hundred years before the Christian aera. She composed 
a great deal, although but few of her numerous produc- 
tions have descended to posterity; yet these few justify 
the panegyrics which have been bestowed upon her. 
Her hymn to Venus was preserved by Dionysius of Hali- 
carnassus, who inserted it in his works as an exarr^pie of 
perfection. An ode was preserved by Longinus, besides 
two epigrams, and some other little fragments, which 
have been generally published in the editions of Ana- 
creon. Her poetry was held in great and just esteem by 
the ancients. " In Greece," says Tanaquillus Faber, *' no 
productions were esteemed more elegant, exquisite, and 
beautiful than those of Sappho." In honour of her me- 
mory, the Mytelenians stamped their coin with her 
image. The Romans afterwards erected a statue of por- 



SOHURMAN, 



155 



phyiy to her honour. Both ancients and moderns have 
vied with each other in enthusiastic admiration of her 
genius and talents. Critics, historians, and poets, have, 
in every age, united in her praise. Yossius affirms that 
none of the Greek poets excelled Sappho for the sweet- 
ness of her verse. She painted from nature and from 
genuine sensibilit}^ She was the inventress of that kind 
of verse, which, from her name, is called Sapphic. 

She wrote nine books of odes, besides elegies, epi- 
grams, iambics, monodies, and other pieces, of which 
we have nothing remaining but those already cited. 

Addison has given an elegant character of this po- 
etess in the Spectator, 



x\nna Maria Schtjrmax, a most learned German lady, 
was born at Cologne, Nov. 5, 1607. Her parents were 
descended from noble protestant families. Anna Maria 
discovered from her early childhood extraordinary in- 
genuity. At six years of age, she cut with her scissors, 
without any pattern, a variety of curious figures in pa- 
per. When she had reached her eleventh year, she was 
mistress of embroidery, music, painting, sculpture, and 
engraving. Mr. Evelyn, in his "History of Chalco- 
graphy," has observed, that "the very knowing A. 
M. Schurman is skilled in this art with innumerable 
others, even to a prodigy of her sex," Her hand writ- 
ing, specimens of which have been preserved by the 
curious in their cabinets, was in all languages inimitably 



156 



SCHURMAN. 



beautiful. Mr. Joby, in his journey to Munster, speaks 
of the beauty of her penmanship in Greek, Hebrew, Sy- 
riac, Arabic, and French, of which he had been an eye 
witness. He also mentions her skill in miniature paint- 
ing; and in drawing, with the point of a diamond, por- 
traits upon glass, besides many other accomphshments. 

The powers of her understanding were not inferior to 
her skill in those arts; for at eleven, when her brothers 
were examined in Latin, she often whispered to them 
what they were to answer, though she was only a casual 
hearer of their lessons. Her father, observing her ge- 
nius for literature, resolved to cultivate a capacity so 
uncommon : a foundation was thus laid for her future ac- 
quirements. Her proficiency in the Hebrew, Greek, and 
Latin languages, in which she wrote and spoke fluently, 
astonished the learned. She made great progress also in 
the oriental languages, the Arabic, Ethiopic, Chaldee, 
and Syriac: and of the living languages, she understood 
and spoke readily, the French, Enghsh, and Italian. She 
studied the sciences with equal success, geography, as- 
tronomy, and physics. But all these accomplishments 
yielded at last to divinity, and the study of the scrip- 
tures. 

Her modesty, which was as great as her knowledge, 
would have kept her in obscurity, if Rivetus, Spanheim, 
and Vossius, had not made her merit known. To these 
may be added, Salmasius, Huygens, and Beverovicius, 
who, holding with her a literary correspondence, spread 
her fame through foreign countries. This procured her 
a correspondence with Balzac, Gassendi, Mersennus,Bo- 
chart, Conrart, and other eminent men: persons of the first 
rank paid her visits, and cardinal Richelieu also honour- 



SlUDKRY. 



157 



ed her with marks of his esteem. She was afterwards 
visited by the celebrated William Penn, the founder of 
the state of Pennsylvania, at Wiewart, in Friesland, in 
1677; and in the following year, she died at this place. 
She took for her device the words of St. Ignatius, 
^mor mens cnicifixm est,'* i. e. " My love is crucified/* 
She wrote ** De vit^ humansc termino," 1639; " Dis- 
sertatio de ingenii muliebris ad docti*inam et meliores 
literas aptitudine," 1641. These two pieces, with let- 
ters in French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, to her learn- 
ed correspondents, were printed in 1648, under the title 
of A, M. a Schurman Opuscula Hebrsea, Grccca, Latina, 
Gallica; prosaica et metrical" enlarged in a second edi- 
tion at Leyden, 1650. 



Madeleine de Scupery, a French lady of great lite- 
rary attainments, was born at Havre, in the year 1607. 
Educated with care under a sensible mother, she was 
distinguished while in her childhood for intellectual 
acuteness, for a lively imagination, and a just and deli- 
cate taste. In the endowments of her person, nature 
had been less liberal. By her wit, and the disadvantages 
of her figure, she obtained the name of Sappho, whose 
genius she emulated, with greater purity of manners. 
She came early to Paris, where her talents excited at* 
tention, and procured her admittance into the first lite- 
rary circles. At the Hotel de Rambouillet, the centre 
of wit and knowledge, she was admitted a member, and 



o 



158 



SCUDERY. 



soon celebrated as one of its brightest ornaments. Her 
fortune being limited, necessity first induced her to turn 
her thoughts to the press. Romances were the taste of 
the age, to which she gave a new and more refined turn. 
Sentiments of honour, of heroism, and of virtue, were 
substituted for dissolute scenes, and descriptions of in- 
trigue; female manners were portrayed with delicacy 
and chasteness, and the passions refined from their 
grossness. Her books, which formed a new era in that 
species of writing, were bought with avidity, and read 
eagerly by persons of all ranks. To the name of Scu- 
dery, which her brother had already rendered celebrat- 
ed, Madeleine added new lustre. The academy of Ri- 
covrati, at Padua, complimented her with a ^place in 
their society, in which she succeeded the learned He- 
lena Cornaro. Every other academy, in which women 
were admitted, became ambitious of enrolling her among 
their members; while her merit and reputation procured 
her from all ranks and orders of people, the most flat» 
tering testimonies of esteem and admiration. From the 
Bishop of Munster, she received, with a medal, a pre- 
sent of his works. Christina, queen of Sweden, Lewis 
XlVth, and Cardinal Mazarine, each settled a pension on 
her. At Paris, her house was the court of the muses, 
where all the talent and genius in the capitol assembled. 
She died in the year 1701, at the advanced age of ninety- 
four. Her works are numerous, and said to amount to 
eighty volumes; among which are, "Artamene, ou le 
Grand Cyrus," ten volumes; "Celanire, ou le Prome- 
nade de Versailles," fivejvolumes; ** Ibrahim, oulTUustre 
Bassu," six volumes; Almahide, ou TEsclare Reine," 



I 



SEVIG.NE. 



159 



f ig'lit volumes; "Celire," two volumes; "Conversations 
Entretiens," ten volumes. 



Mary de Rabutin Sevigne, a celebrated French wri- 
ter, was bo^-n February 5, 1626. While yet in her in- 
fancy, she was deprived of her father, who was killed 
July 22, 1627, at the descent of the English upon the 
Isle of Rhee, where he commanded a squadron of gentle- 
men volunteers. This loss was supplied to her by the 
cares and attention of an affectionate and sensible mo- 
ther, and of her uncle, who superintended her educa- 
tion, and implanted in her mind the purest principles. 
She was early instructed in the Latin, Spanish, and Ita- 
lian languages, and familiarized with the writings of the 
best authors. At eighteen, she married Henry marquis 
de Sevigne, w^ho afterwards fell in a duel with the Che- 
valier d'Albret. Thus left a widow in the bloom of her 
youth, she determined against a second engagement, 
and devoted herself with exemplary attention to the 
education of her children. The Marchioness de Se- 
vigne seems to have chosen that proper mode of edu- 
cation which inspired the breasts of her children both 
with love and esteem; she avoided that austerity which 
puts a check upon ingenuous confidence, and the seve- 
rity of the parent was softened by the fondness of the 
friend. By uniting her daughter to the Count de Gri- 
gnan, lieutenant of the king's forces and Governor of 
Provence, she flattered herself with the hope of not 
being separated from her, as the count was constantly 



160 



SEVIGNE, 



near the person of the king; but the duke de Tendome 
having quitted Provence, the count was ordered to supply 
his place, and it is difficult to say, whether the daughter 
or the mother was most afflicted at being compelled to 
live apart. To this separation, however, the public are 
indebted for those charming letters, which it is impossi- 
ble to peruse without sensations of delight: for the len- 
derest affection is displayed in the most elegant language^ 
and the heart fondly dictates every line. Frequent were 
the visits which the marchioness made her beloved 
daughter; affection shortened distance, and diminished 
fatigue: the last journey she took was for the purpose 
of being present at the marriage of her grandson, and 
she was then near seventy years of age. During her 
stay in Provence, her daughter was seized with a dan- 
gerous malady. This amiable and attached parent could 
not be persuaded to leave her for a moment, but with 
unexampled perseverance, watched her day and night. 
The countess recovered, to the delight of her fond mo- 
ther, whose constitution was not equal to the fatigue 
and anxiety she had endured: she was attacked by a 
slow nervous fever, which put a period to her life in 
fourteen days. She expired August 6, 1696, in her 
seventy-first year. 

The enlightened mind and admirable talents of this 
amiable woman, proved insufficient to preserv^e her from 
the influence of superstition, and the contagion of the 
times. She appears to have exulted in the extirpation 
of protestanism in Provence by the power of her son- 
in-law. 

She even speaks with levity of the sufferings of the 
H\]|^uenots, dragooned, into the bosom of ihe true church 



SKWARD. 16 1 

If in a mind of high cultivation, superior refinement, and 
exquisite sensibility, such is the effect of fanaticisnij 
who shall calculate its ravages, marked as they ever 
have been with desolation and blood? The best edition 
of her Letters'' v/as published by the Chevalier Perrin, 
in Paris, 1775, eight volumes, 12mo. 



Anna Seward, a poetess, who holds a high rank in 
the annals of British literature, was the daughter of the 
Kev. Thomas Seward, and was born at Litchfield in the 
year 174-7. Her talents did not long escape his observa- 
tion, and, under his instructions, she laid the foundation 
of a taste for poetry. Shakspeare, Milton, Pope, and 
Young, were her favourite authors, and a desire to imi- 
tate them, very early displayed itself. She attempted 
metrical versions of the psalms, and even exercised her- 
self in original composition, before she was ten years of 
age. After a short intermission, at the request of her 
mother, she once more resumed her pen, and was en-= 
couraged by her literary friends, among whom she num- 
bered Dr. Johnson, Dr. Darwin, Mr. Day, Mr. Hayley^ 
the poet, and Mr. Edge worth, to commit some of her 
essays and poems to the press, and the public received 
with great favour, the elegiac commemorations of Andre 
and of Cook. The former ofthese subjects was dictated by 
her personal friendship for the brave and unfortunate suf- 
ferer, and the latter was dictated by those feelings of^dmi- 
ration and gratitude, which, in common with the civilized 



162 



SEWARI^. 



world at large, she felt for the firm and benevolent charac- 
ter of the dauntless navigator, and for his tragical end. As 
her fame increased, she had also the pleasure of extend- 
ing her acquaintance among those who were candidates 
for literary reputation, with whom she maintained, 
through life, a constant con*espondence. In 1782, she 
published a poetical novel, entitled, ** Louisa,^' which 
was favourably received, and passed rapidly through 
several editions. This was followed by a volume of ori- 
ginal sonnets, which were intended to restore the strict 
rules of the legitimate sonnet, and most undoubtedly 
contain some beautiful examples of that species of com- 
position. In 1 804, the death of Dr. Darwin, who had 
encouraged the first notes of her lyre, and from whom, 
perhaps, it had bon'owed some of its peculiar intona- 
tions, induced Miss Seward to give the public a biogra- 
phical sketch of her early friend. It ought, however^ 
to have been entitled, anecdotes of the early part of his 
life, and of the society at Litchfield, while it was his 
place of residence. In this publication, she laid her 
claim to the first fifty verses in the Botanic Garden, 
which she had written in compliment to Dr. Darwin, 
and which he had inserted in his poem without any ac- 
knowledgment. From this period, she did not under- 
take any extensive works, but continued to pour forth 
her poetical effusions upon such occasions as interested 
her feehngs, or excited her imagination. These efforts 
were, however, unequal to those of her eai'lier muse. 
Age was now approaching with its usual attendants, de- 
clining health, and the loss of friends, summoned from 
the stage before her. Yet her interest in literature and 
poetry continued unabated, and she continued an unre- 



SHERIDAN. 



c« laxed correspondence, not only with her former friends, 
\s but with those later candidates for poetical distinction, 
d- whose exertions she approved of. Among these, she 
?s distinguished with her highest regard, Mr. Robert 
i, Southey, the present Poet Laureate of Great Britain, 
c For a year or two preceding 1807, she set about aiTang- 
1 ing and preparing for the press, her poetical works and 
I correspondence, which, after her death, was published 

by . Sir Walter Scott, in nine volumes, octavo. She died 

on the 25th March, 1809. 



Fhances Sheridan, whose maiden name was Cham- 
berlaine, was born in Ireland of respectable parents, in 
the year 1724. She first distinguished herself by a 
small pamphlet published relative to a dispute between 
the proprietors of the Dublin theatre. Struck witli the 
superior powers of her mind, Mr. Sheridan solicited her 
hand in marriage, which he obtained. It is said her 
amiable disposition was equal to the brilliancy of her 
understanding. In private life, she was beloved, esteem- 
ed, and admired, for she possessed all those quahflca- 
tions which engage the affections, and excite a mixture 
of admiration and delight. Her admirable domestic tale 
of Sydney Biddulph, is well known, and justly esteemed 
by the public. She was also the author of a small ro- 
mance, entitled, " Nom^jahad,*' which possesses consid- 
erable merit. She likewise wrote two comedies, " The 
Discovery," and " The Dupe;'' the latter published in 
1765. After lingering some years in ill health, she died 
at Blois, in the south of France, where she went for her 
health, in the year 1767, 



164 



SMITH. 

Charlotte Smith, a celebrated female writer, was 
the daughter of Nicholas Turner, Esq., a gentleman of 
Sussex, England, and was born about the year 1749. 
At Bignor Park, the seat of her father, she passed her 
earliest years, amidst scenery which had nursed the fan- 
cies of Otway and Collins, and where every charm of 
nature seems to have left the most lively and distinct 
impression on her mind. From her twelfth to her fif- 
teenth year, she resided in London, where she was in- 
troduced into various society. In her sixteenth year she 
married a Mr. Smith. In a few years afterwards, an un- 
expected transition took place in his affairs, and she had 
the misery of experiencing" all those mortifications which 
are attached to an involvement in debt. 

It was during this period of her husband's imprison* 
ment, which Mrs. Smith unrepiningly shared with him, 
that she first devoted her thoughts to literature, and 
flattered herself with the hope of obtaining a temporary 
support for her children through the medium of the 
press. Those beautiful little poems which have im- 
mortalized her name, were written without an idea of 
their ever appearing in print, but merely to amuse a 
mind that seemed to be anticipating the cruel stroke of, 
adversity which it was soon destined to sustain. M 

The following sonnet to her children, taken from 
the collection printed in 1784, composed long before 
she was assailed by misfortune, proves that she appre- 
hended that the brilliant prospects which suiToundec 
them, would soon be overcast ^ the sensations of a mc» 



SMITH. 



165 



ther are so affectingly described, that it is impossibe to 
resist the desire of extracting it from her works. 

** Sighing", I see yon little group at play. 
By soiTow yet untouched, unhurt by care; 
While free and sportive they enjoy to-day, 
Content and careless of to-morrow's fare! 

O happy age! when hope's unclouded ray, 
Lights their green path and prompts their simple mirtb. 
Ere yet they feel the thorns that lurking lay. 
To wound the wretched pilgrims of the earth. 

Making them rue the hour that gave them birth^ 
And threw them on a world so full of pain. 
Where prosperous folly treads on patient worth. 
And, deaf to pride, misfortune pleads in vain! 
Ah ! for their future fate, how many fears 
Oppress my heart, and fill my eyes with tears!" 

After having, for seven months, experienced all the 
miserable scenes of a prison, the creditors, by her exer- 
tions principally, liberated her husband; they then di- 
rected their course to her brother's house in Sussex. 
" After the scenes I had witnessed, and the apprehen- 
sions I had suffered," says this unfortunate female, 
" how deliciously soothing to my wearied spirits was the 
soft pure air of the summer's morning, breathing over 
the dewy grass, as we passed over the Surrey heaths! 
My native hills at length burst upon my view! I beheld 
once more the fields where I had passed my happiest 
days, and amidst the perfumed turf with which one of 



SMITH. 



ids fvas strewn, perceived witL ^^.^.g^t me be« 
loved group fi-om whom I had been so long dmded, 
and for whose fate my affections were ever anxious; the 
transports of this meeting was too much for my exhaust- 
ed spmts; yet after all my sufferings, I began to hope I 
might taste content, or experience, at least, a respite 
from calamity.^' Vain was the hope, illusive the ex- 
pectation, her trials and disappointments were far from 
complete; the supposed friends of her husband became 
his persecutors, and he was compelled to fly from his 
native land! They passed a dreary winter in upper 
Normandy, and the next year Mrs. Smith returned, and 
so far succeeded with the creditors, as to enable her 
husband to return to England; and soon after, they re- 
moved to Sussex. 

It now became necessaiy to exert her faculties again 
as a means of support; and she translated a little novel 
of Abbe Prevost; and made a selection of extraordinary 
stories from " Les Causes Celebres'* of the French, 
which she entitled The Romance of Real Life." Soon 
after this, she was once more left to herself by a second 
flight of her husband abroad; and she removed with her 
children to a small cottage in another part of Sussex, 
whence she published a new edition of her sonnets, with 
many additions, which afforded her a temporary relief. 
In this retirement, stimulated by necessity, she ventured 
to try her powers of original composition in a novel, 
called " Emmehne, or the Orphan of the Castle,'* 1788. 
" This,'' says her biographer, '* displayed such a simple 
energy of language, such an accurate and hvely de- 
lineation of character, such a purity of sentiment, and 
such exquisite scenery of a picturesque and rich, yet 



SMITH. I6r 

most unaflTected imagination, as gave it a Wld upon all 
readers of true taste, of a new and captivating kind." 
The success of this novel encouraged her to produce 
others for some successive years. " With equal felicity, 
with an imagination still unexhausted, and a command 
of language, and a variety of character, which have not 
yet received their due commendation." " Ethehnde," 
appeat-edin 1789; Celestina," in 1791; «M)esmond," 
in 1792; and the " Old Manor House," in 1793. To 
these succeeded The Wanderings of Warwick;" " The 
Banished Man;" " Montalbert;" " Marchmont;" The 
Young Philosopher, "and the **Solitary Wanderer," mak- 
ing in all, thirty-eight volumes. Besides these, Mrs. 
Smith wrote several beautiful little volumes for young 
persons, entitled, " Rural Walks;" " Rambles Farther;" 
" Minor Morals;" ** Conversations;" and a poem in 
blank verse, called " The Emigrant," in addition to a 
second volume of Sonnets. During this long period 
of constant literary exertion, which alone seemed suffi- 
cient to have occupied all her time, she had both family 
griefs and family business of the most perplexing and 
overwhelming nature to contend with. Her husband 
died, it is said, in legal confinement, in March, 1806; 
and on October 28th following, Mrs. Smith died at Tel- 
ford, near Farnham, in Surrey, after a lingering and 
painful illness, which she bore with Christian resigna- 
tion. The year following her death, an additional vo- 
lume of her poetry w^as published under the title of 
** Beachy Head, and other Poems." 

It has been remarked, by her kind eulogist, that of 
her poetry it is not easy to speak in terms too high. 

There is so much unaffected elegance; so much pa- 



i 



168 SMITH. 

thos and harmony in it; the images are so soothing, and 
so delightful; and the sentiments so touching, so con- 
sonant to the best movements of the heart, that no 
reader of pure taste can grow weary of perusing them." 



Elizabeth Smith, was born in December, 1776, in 
the county of Durham, England, where her parents then 
lived in affluence. She was remarkable, in her early 
yeai's, for a love of knowledge, for regularity and reflec- 
tion. During her youth, she did not seem to have en* 
joyed any peculiar advantages, except in the instruction 
of her mother, who appears, from some of her letters, to 
have possessed an elegant and cultivated understanding. 
In 1785, her father removed to Piercefield, a celebrated 
and romantic seat on the Wye, and in the summer of 
1789, she became acquainted with Mrs. H. Bowdler, by 
whom she was introduced to another lady, to whom most 
of her printed letters were addressed. In 1793, a bank 
in which Mr. Smith was engaged, failed; and this unex* 
pected stroke at once reduced Ehzabeth and her family 
from affluence, to very narrow circumstances. She lost 
her books, her instruments, and the command of all those 
elegant comforts and conveniences which are generally 
found so necessary to the formation of female character. 
From that time, till the summer of 1801, Miss Smith had 
no certain home. Some part of that period she passed 
with Mrs. H. Bowdler, at Bath; several years were spent 
in Ireland, where Mr. Smith was quartered, amidst the 
inconveniences and distractions of military cantonments; 



SMITH. 



169 



' and the rest at the houses of friends, or hi a hh'ed house 
on the banks of the Ulswater. During" these years, and 
under such disadvantages, she acquired that variety and 
depth of erudition, which justly rendered her an object 
of admiration to all who knew her. After the year 1801, 
e principally resided at a small farm and mansion 
eated among the lakes, where, in the summer of 1805, 
she caught a cold, which, though at first it seemed trifling, 
terminated her life on the 7th of August, 1806. She 
was, at the time of her death, not quite thirty years of 
age. Of the force of Miss Smith's genius, and the variety 
of her attainments, a judgment may be formed by the 
contents of a letter from Mrs. H. Bowdler to Dr. Mums- 
sen. " The lovely young creature, on whose account I 
first applied to you, had been for above a year gradually 
declining, and on the 7th of August, she resigned her 
spirit to God who gave it. Her character was so extra- 
ordinary, and she was so very dear to me, that I hope 
you will forgive me dwelling a little longer on my irre- 
parable loss. . Her person and manners were extremely 
pleasing, with a pensive softness of countenance that 
indicated deep reflection; but her extreme timidity 
concealed the most extraordinary talents, that ever fell 
under my observation. With scarcely any assistance, 
she taught herself the French, Italian, Spanish, German, 
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. She had no in- 
considerable knowledge of Arabic and Persic. She was 
well acquainted with geometry, algebra, and other 
branches of the mathematics. She was a very fine mu- 
sician. She drew landscapes from nature extremely 
well, and was a mistress of perspective. She showed an 
early taste for poetry, of which some specimens remain ; 



iro 



SMITH. 



but I believe she destroyed most of the effusions of her 
youthful muse, when an acquaintance with your great 
poet, and still more when the sublime compositions of 
your Hebrew bards, gave a different turn to her thoughts. 
With all these acquirements she was perfectly feminine 
in her disposition; elegant, modest, gentle, and affec- 
tionate. Nothing was neglected which a woman ought 
to know, nor J was any duty which her situation in life 
required her to pe*rform." 

Amid such pursuits and enjoyments, it is not to be 
wondered at, that Miss Smith felt little regret for the 
loss of affluence. She had resigned only that which 
thousands enjoyed in common with herself, which, 
though it may shelter from son^ows, can never confer 
happiness; but she retained her best riches, those fa- 
culties and feelings v/hich are the true fountains of en- 
joyment, and which Providence had bestowed upon her 
with a liberal hand. Poverty neither dimmed her intel- 
lect, nor chilled her heart; and while her mind was 
occupied with new enquiries after knowledge, her af- 
fections were cherished and satisfied with the friendship 
of those she loved. She was greatly indebted for her 
resources, in the reverse of fortune, to her early habits 
of reading and reflection. These fortified her mind, and 
enabled her, with religion for her instructress, to form 
a just estimate of the things which really minister to 
happiness. These secured to her friends whose con- 
versation delighted and improved her; whose approba- 
tion animated her ardour; whose experience directed 
her pursuits; and whose tenderness excited, without fear 
of excess, the most dehghtful sentiments of human na- 
ture= These furnished, through succeeding years, the 



SMITH. 



in 



means of constant occupation; not constrained by neces- 
sity, or by a dread of vacancy and restlessness; not 
limited to a single pursuit, which becomes wearisome 
from its continued recurrence, and narrows the under- 
standing, even while it quickens the faculties; but al- 
ways new, always useful; equally fitted for society and 
solitude, sickness and health, prosperity and misfortune. 
The following extract bears date January 1st, 1798, 
when Miss Smith had arrived at one and twenty. 

" Being now arrived at what is called years of discre- 
tion, and looking back on my past life with shame and 
confusion, when I recollect the many advantages I have 
had, and the bad use I have made of them; the hours I 
have squandered, and the opportunities of improvement 
I have neglected; when I imagine what with those ad- 
vantages I ought to be, and find myself what I am; 
I am resolved to endeavour to be more careful for the 
future, if the future be granted me; to try to make 
amends for past negligence, by emplo3dng every mo- 
ment I can command to some good purpose; to endea- 
vour to acquire all the little knowledge that human na- 
ture is capable of on earth, but to let the word of God 
be my chief study, and all others subservient to it; to 
model myself as far as I am able, according to the gos- 
pel of Christ; to be content while my trial lasts, and 
when it is finished to rejoice, trusting in the merits of 
my Redeemer. I have written these resolutions to stand 
as a witness against me, in case I should be inclined to 
forget them, and to return to my former indolence and 
thoughtlessness, because I have found the inutility of 
mental determinations. May God grant me strength to 
keep them I" Among her reflections^ there are many 



172 



STAEL. 



which breathe strongly of a spmt of humility, depend- 
ance and devotion. In almost all of them we see a mind 
deeply impressed with the value of religion, and vanity 
of worldly things. The following extract is made ""as 
peculiarly striking. 

" The christian life may be compared to a magnificent 
column, whose summit always points to heaven The 
innocent, and therefore real, pleasures of this world are 
the ornaments on the pedestal; very beautiful, and 
highly to be enjoyed when the eye is near, but which 
should not too long or too frequently detain us from that 
just distance, where we can contemplate the whole co- 
lumn, and where the ornaments on its base disappear.'* 

Although Miss Smith shone pre-emmently as a literary 
character, yet she appeared most brilliant and endearing 
when viewed through her exalted piety, and sincere re- 
ligion. It was this that raised her above the world, and 
taught her, at sixteen years of age, to resign its riches 
and its privileges almost without regret, and to support 
with dignity a very unexpected change of situation. 
Her goodness was of a very genuine kind. Her religion 
was watered by the dews and rains of heaven. It taught 
her seriousness and humility, kindness, resignati on, and 
contentment. It sustained her through the trials of life, 
and cheered her dying hours! 



STAEIi. 

Anne Loitise Germain de Staei. This justly cele- 
brated and admired female, so eminent in the annals of 
French literature, was born at Paris in the year 1766, 
and displaying what might well be called precocity of 



STAEL. 



173 



talent, was educated under the Immediate inspection of 
her parents. When a child, she was remarkable for 
great cheerfulness, vivacity, and frankness. She was a 
writer long before she had attained the age of fifteen; 
and when she had an'ived at this age, she made extracts 
from Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, with remarks. From 
this period, until her marriage, which took place in her 
twentieth year, she composed several tragedies and 
three novels. But her most finished work, appeared 
soon after her marriage, under the title of " Letters on 
the writings and character of J. J. Rousseau." In these 
are deposited the germs of all the opinions that she af- 
terwards developed. Amid all the enthusiasm which 
Rousseau inspires her, she preserves the independence 
of her mind, scatters her own thoughts with ^profusion, 
and does it with the gracefulness, the slight embarrass- 
ment of a young woman, who feels rather afraid of dis- 
playing too much vigour. It is in these fragments of 
ardent sensibility, and particularly in her bursts of ad- 
miration and love for her father, that she has poured 
out her whole heart. In 1796, she published an essay 
on the " Influence of the Passions on Individual and 
National Happiness:" and in four years afterwards it 
was followed by an essay on " Literature, considered in 
its connexion with Social Institutions. '* It is apparent 
that, during the interval of that period, the current of 
her thoughts underwent a change, although her opinions 
remained the same. Her ideas were matured by reflec- 
tion, a course of study alleviated the pressure of her 
misfortunes, and her mind resumed its elasticity. Al- 
ready her life becomes all futurity; and as the present 
does not answer her wishes, she steers with full sails 
p2 



174 



ST A EL. 



towards a distant glory; her necessity of hope is diffus- 
ed over the world at large. She beheves that the hu- 
man mind enriches itself with the wealth of ages. Ac- 
cording to her, generations succeed not each other in 
vain, and a better order of things is gradually advancing, 
the principal features of which the prophetic eye of 
genius can distinguish. The state of commotion and 
anarchy ceases to appear to her a useless evil, when she 
considers it as a crisis, that must lead to a happier con- 
dition; and more especially when she attributes it to the 
inevitable resistance, which principles long misunder- 
stood, or laid aside among speculative truths, experience, 
when we come to apply them to real life. But it is ne- 
cessary that an examination of the past should justify 
this favourable auguiy. It must be proved that the ad- 
vance of knowledge has been real, that it has been con- 
stant in spite of vicissitudes, and that we can trace the 
law of the moral improvement of the human race through 
the obscurity of time. This is what is undertaken by 
Madame de Stael, and in the execution of which she has 
displayed a vastness of intellect. 

It was towards the end of 1803, after having published, 
'^^ Delphine," exiled by Bonaparte, she made her tour 
into Germany. Here she was received with transport 
by men of genius, and applauded for her talents. From 
thence she passed-into Italy, where she was also receiv- 
ed with the attention due to her rank and splendid ac- 
quirements; and on her return to Vienna in 1807, she 
published " Corinna," the master-piece of all her writ- - 
ings. 

During her stay in this capital, she completed and 
prepared for the press, her great work on the morals^ 



ST A EL. 



literature, and philosophy of Germany;" which, in 
point of excellence, ranks as high as the preceding, and 
is perhaps more extraordinaiy, as the performance of a 
woman. In 1812, she published a work against " Sui- 
cide;" and on her return to France, after an exile of ten 
years, she revised and prepared for the press her im- 
mortfij work, entitled Considerations on the French 
Revolution," which she published in 1816. From this 
period until her death, she was engaged in revising the 
werk which has since appeared under the title of Ten 
Years' Exile." 

In closing this sketch of her life, we must remark, that 
Madame de Stael was in all the relations of domestic 
and social life an agreeable companion — a dutiful and 
devoted daughter, a warm and constant friend, and an 
affectionate mother. In her manners she had a simpli- 
city and even a carelessness that made every one feel at 
ease in her company; and in conversation, she was elo- 
quent and brilliant. 

In her last illness, her character remained unaltered. 
To the last moment she was tender, confiding as an in- 
fant, and resigned to her fate. She was seen constantly 
exerting the virtues for which she was distinguished; 
and on those days when she suffered most pain, she was 
employed in acts of charity. She preserved so much 
tranquillity as to wish to dictate to Mr. Schlegel the de- 
ception of what she felt. Her confidence in the good- 
ness and mercy of God, was strong and unshaken: one 
diy, rousing from a state of reverie, she said: "I think 1 
k now what the transition from life to death is; and I am 
sure, that the goodness of God softens it to us. Our 
idea6 become confused, and the pain is not very acute/* 



176 TALBOT. I 

Her confidence was not disappointed; the profoundest ^ 
tranquillity presided over her last n^ionnents. Long be- 
fore she expired, the grand struggle had ended, and | 
her sool departed gently. She died July 15th, 1817, ' 



CATiiEPtixE Talbot, the intimate friend and corapa- 
mon of the learned Ehzabeth Carter, was born m Eng- 
land on the fifteenth of May, 1 720. At a very early age^ 
she was taken into the family of Dr. Seeker, afterwards 
archbishop of Canterbury, where she enjoyed many ad- 
vantages in acquiring useful knowledge. These oppor- 
tunities were duly appreciated and improved by her, 
and she soon became mistress of niusic, drawing, and as- 
tronomy, also the French, German, and Italian languages. 
At what age she began to compose does not appear; 
but great as her talents and brilliant as her accomplish- 
ments were, she was still more remarkable for her piety. ■ 
It was the spring of all her actions, as its reward was 
the object of all her hopes. Her life, however, aflTords < 
but little scope for narrative — it passed on in a smoath 
equable tenor. This was a blessing of which her pious 
mind was deeply sensible: she was always thankfial for 
days not marked by calamit}^, nor blackened by the hor- 
rors of guilt. On the death of her guardian and learned 
friend, bishop Seeker, who bequeathed her four hundred 
pounds a year, she removed from Lambeth place to a 
house in Grosvenor Street, London, v/here she survived 
his death but a short time. Her dissolution took place 
on the ninth day of January, 1770, in the forty-ninth year 



TIGHK. 



\77 



)f her age. Her works consist of Reflections on the 
^even Days of the Week;" Essays on Various Sub] 
jects;" Letters to a Friend on a Future State;" Dia- 
logues;" " Prose Pastorals;" Imitations of Ossian," 



Mary Tighi, a lady of superior mind and acquirements, 
was born in Dublin, in the year Iff 4. She was the 
daughter of the Rev. William Blashford, who died while 
she was an infant. In early life she mixed with the gay 
world, but an extreme sensibility, joined to a great de- 
licacy of sentiment, soon decided her preference for 
retirement, where, happy in her choice of a partner, 
and devoted to her relatives and friends,; hope pointed 
exultingly to happiness, but sickness and death made 
their inroad in the choice circle; the loss of relatives, 
joined with other causes, undermined her health, and 
after a painful struggle of six years, she departed this 
life with christian resignation and confiding hope at 
Woodstock, in the county of Kilkennny, on the 24th 
March, 1810, in the thirty-seventh year of her age. Her 
beautiful poem of ** Psyche," will long remain a monu- 
ment of her classical taste and acquirements, while her 
minor poems will not be forgotten, whilst piety, delicacy, 
and the most touching pathos have power to charm. 



178 



TRIMMEK, 

Sarah Trijimer, a very ingenious lady, and a zealous 
promoter of religious education, was born at Ipswich, 
England, January 6, 1741. From her father, who was 
a man of great piety, she imbibed the purest sentiments 
of religion, and, at an early period of life, acquired the 
knowledge of the fundamental principles of Christianity. 
In her own town, she received a polished education. 
At the age of fourteen she removed to London, where 
she afterwards passed her time in the society of people 
more advanced in life, and was especially favoured with 
the particular notice of Dr. Johnson, Dr. Gregory Sharp, 
Mr. Gainsborough, and others of literary notoriety. She 
spent much time in reading; at once gratifying her thirst 
after knowledge, and acquiring important and useful 
information. In the year 1759, her father removed to " 
Kew, where she became acquainted with Mr. Trimmer; 
and at the age of twenty -one, she was united to him with 
the approbation of the friends on both sides. From the 
time of her marriage till she became an author, she was 
almost constantly occupied with domestic duties; devot- 
ing herself to the nursing and educating of her children. 
Having experienced the greatest success in her plan of 
educating her own family, she naturally wished to ex- 
tend that blessing to others, and this, probably, first in- 
duced her to become an author. She cultivated a habit 
of early rising, which she found useful in various ways. 
Devotional exercises employed the first part of her time 
thus well redeemed. In her meditations, at a time when 



TRIMMER. 



iro 



she was writing on sacred subjects, she thus expresses 
herself: O divine Saviour! it is not my wish to waste 
those hours in sleep, which ought to be passed in 
watchfulness and prayer. It is my highest pleasure to 
rise early to pursue my delightful work; at midnight I 
would rise to praise my God and Saviour. Humility 
was one of the leading features in her character, and it 
was apparent both in her countenance and conversation. 
Of her love and veneration for the Bible, no one can 
doubt, who is at all acquainted with her writings. On 
this subject she thus writes in her meditations: *^ What 
an inestimable treasure is thy gospel! O Divine Sa- 
viour, what would have become of all mankind with- 
out thee? How much would all the troubles of life 
have been increased to me, but for the knowledge of 
thy Gospel! Lord, it is, in my estunation, the pearl of 
great value. I have sought for it as for hidden treasure; 
and under the guidance of divine grace, I have happily 
found it. I would not part with it for all that this world 
and a thousand such worlds can give," &c. The failings 
of her fellow creatures were always covered with a 
mantle of charity. Her greatest solicitude was, that al- 
mankind might be made partakers of salvation, and the 
name of God be praised, from the rising to the setting 
sun. 

The manners of this excellent woman accorded wilh 
the simplicity of her character, and were at once mild 
and gentle, modest and unassuming. There was a dig- 
mty in her deportment, arising rather from her real 
worth than from any consciousness of it in herself; and 
it was almost impossible to avoid treating her with the 
respect she deserved; yet those who approached 



180 



TRIMMER. 



with most veneration, were, upon further acquaintance, 
equally bound to her by the ties of affection and regard. I 
On the 15th of December, 1810, Mrs. Trimmer having' I 
nearly attained, what, in the language of the Psalmist, I 
is called the age of man, was gently summoned to | 
brighter regions, with scarcely an hour's previous ill- | 
ness, and without any symptoms that could alarm the 
family. As she was sitting in her study, in the chair in 
which she was accustomed to write, she bowed her 
head upon her bosom, and yielded her spirit into the ■ 
hands of her Creator and Hedeemer. Her children, who - 
had occasionally seen her take repose in this way, i 
could scarcely persuade themselves that she was not | 
sunk in sleep; and it was not till after some time, that 1 
they could be made to believe that it was the sleep of i 
death. 

Her publications amount to about twenty-two, many 
of which consist of several volumes. In the w^ritings of j 
this eminently pious and virtuous woman, religion and 
morahty are so happily blended, that it seems impos- 
sible to practise the one, without finding the other ani- 
mate the heart; for they appear to be as intimately con- ' 
nected as a cause is with an effect. Her works appear ^ 
not only adapted to the capacities of youth, but many of 
them are calculated to produce the most beneficial ef« ^ 
fects upon mankind. They are particularly adapted to 
the lower classes of society. With ardency of zeal, and , 
strength of persuasion, she has endeavoured to convince 
them that virtue alone constitutes happiness in this life, 
and that poverty can only be considered as an cvih 
when it is united with depravity of mind. 



%VAKEF1ELD — WEST. 



181 



pRisciLLA Wakefield. This lady ranks high in the 
present list of literary characters, and is well known for 
her useful and ingenious works which she has written 
for the instruction of youth. She has published ** Ju- 
venile Improvement;" "Leisure Hours," two volumes^ 

An Introduction to Botany;" " Mental Improvement," ^ 
three volumes; " Reflexions on the Present Condition 
of the Female Sex, with Hints for its Improvement;" 
*'The Juvenile Traveller;" " A Familiar Tour through 
the British Empire;" " Domestic Recreation;" " Excur- 
sions in North America;" " Sketches of Human Man- 
ners;" '^Variety;" " Perambulations in London;" "In- 
stinct Displayed;" " The Traveller in Africa and Asia;" 
" An Introduction to the Knowledge of Insects," &c. 

Mrs. Wakefield is said to be the original promoter of 
banks for the savings of the poor, which are now become 
so general. 



WEST- 

jAifE West, a lady who ranks high as an amusing and 
moral writer, is the wife of a farmer in Northampton- 
shire, England, and is said to have received but a scanty 
education, which she has improved by a close appli- 
cation to study. She has published "Miscellaneous 
Poems;" "A Gossip Story;" " A Novel," two volumes; 
*'ATale of the Times," three volumes; Poems and 
Plays," four volumes; "The Advantage of Education," 
' wo volumes^ " Letters to a Young Man," three vo- 



18£ 



WILLIAMS. 



liimes; " Lettei^ to a Young Lady," two volumes; " The 
Infidel Father," a novel, three volumes; " The Refusal," 
a novel, three volumes; and Scriptural Essays, adapt* 
ed to the Holidays of the Church of England," two vo- 
lumes, &c. 



WXXiliZiUl^S. 

Helen Maria Williams, a lady possessed of superior 
talents as a writer, was born about the year 1762, and 
resided many years at Berwick, but came to London 
when about eighteen years of age, and was introduced 
to the world as a writer by the late Dr. Kip pis. Amidst 
the various publications of this celebrated female, her 
travels through Switzerland have been the most gene- 
rally admired; her mode of narration gives a charm and 
interest to description, which excites in the mind of the 
reader a considerable degree of pleasure and applause. 
Her diction is lofty and animated, like the romantic and 
diversified country she traverses; she is often as bold 
and abrupt as the precipices over which she travels; 
and her composition wears, in many places, the aspect 
more of a masculine, than a feminine composition. 
About the year 1788, she visited France, and the recep« 
tion which she met with, induced her to settle there, 
where she has ever since remained. Previous to this 
event, however, she published " A Collection of Miscel- 
laneous Poems," in two volumes; "Poems on the Slave 
Trade;" and "Julia," a novel, in two volumes. In 1790, 
she published "Letters written in France," of which a 
second part, in two volumes, came out in 1792. These 
spirited aiid elegantly v/ritten volumes tended to render 



WILLIAMS.' 



183 



the revolution popular in England, and recommended 
her to the Brisotines; so that, during the re-action of 
parties, she was in great danger, and was actually con- 
fined in the Temple; but, on the fall of Robespierre, she 
was released. After her liberation she resumed her 
literary labours, the first fruits of which were " Letters, 
containing a sketch of the Politics of France,'^ four vo- 
lumes; and a translation of " Paul and Virginia." These 
were followed by " Sketches of the State of Manners 
and Opinions in the French Republic;" and a translation 
of the " Political and Confidential Correspondence of 
Louis 16th, with Observations," three volumes. During 
the treaty of Amiens, she made her peace with the Eng- 
lish government, and during the subsequent war, be- 
came an object of suspicion to the French police, by 
whom her papers were searched. In 1814, she translat- 
ed the first volumes of " The personal Travels of M. de 
Humboldt," which she completed in 1821. Her latest 
works are "A Narrative of Events in France in 1815;" 
**0n the late Persecutions of the Protestants in the 
south of France;" "The Leper of the city of Aoste," 
and " Letters on the events which have passed in France 
since the Restoration of the Bourbons," &c. For some 
years she wrote the French departments in the New 
Annual Register, and that article, like all her writings, 
was distinguished by extraordinary eloquence. 



THE END, 



